the ability to perform rolling contact fatigue (rcf) experiments in wheel–rail material is provided by a new small–scale test rig, manifesting the actual dynamic behaviour of the railway system. in this paper, a multi-body dynamics (mbd) model is proposed, simulating the vibration behaviour of the prescribed rig. the new testing facility is modelled using a three-dimensional model of the vehicl...

Rail surface defects such as the abrasion, scratch and peeling often cause damages to the train wheels and rail bearings. An efficient and accurate detection of rail defects is of vital importance for the safety of railway transportation. In the past few decades, automatic rail defect detection has been studied; however, most developed methods use optic-imaging techniques to collect the rail su...

The ability to perform rolling contact fatigue (RCF) experiments in wheel–rail material is provided by a new small–scale test rig, manifesting the actual dynamic behaviour of the railway system. In this paper, a multi-body dynamics (MBD) model is proposed, simulating the vibration behaviour of the prescribed rig. The new testing facility is modelled using a three-dimensional model of the vehicl...

Broken rails are the most frequent cause of freight-train derailments in the United States. Consequently, reducing their occurrence is a high priority for the rail industry and the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration. Current practice is to periodically inspect rails to detect defects using nondestructive technology such as ultrasonic inspection. Determining the optimal rail inspection frequen...

Preventing broken-rail-caused derailments is a high priority for the rail industry and government. The current practice is to periodically inspect rails using non-destructive technologies such as ultrasonic rail inspection. Determining the optimal inspection frequency is a critical decision in railway infrastructure management. The objective of this paper is to develop an analytical framework t...

Broken rails are the most common cause of severe freighttrain derailments on American railroads. Reducing the occurrence of broken-rail-caused derailments is an important safety objective for the railroad industry. The current practice is to periodically inspect rails using non-destructive technologies such as ultrasonic inspection. Determining the optimal rail defect inspection frequency is a ...

This thesis proposes a quantitative method to optimize inspection/repair intervention in rail defect management. Rail defect management is important for track maintenance, since rails are the most significant and basic component of the track systems. Rail inspection is a fundamental intervention to prevent rail failure. Railroads have evolved the rail inspection interval based on their empirica...

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2545, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2016, pp. 27–35. DOI: 10.3141/2545-04 The rapid expansion of production of North American petroleum crude oil from shale has led to a significant increase in rail transport of crude oil. Broken rails are frequent causes of train accidents. Ultrasonic rail defe...

Rail inspection is an important task in railway maintenance. The speed and loads of trains have been increasing greatly in recent years, and these factors inevitably raise the risk of producing rail defects. Mainly the discrete surface defects impact the riding quality and safety of a railway system. However, it is a challenge to inspect such defects in a vision system because of illumination i...

The non-destructive evaluation of the rail is crucial to provide a high safety level in railway transportation. To detect and classify on line rail surface defects (splitted rail, shelling ...), a specific double-coils double-frequencies eddy current sensor is used, which gives 8 real differential signals. Blind Source Separation (BSS) is applied to dissociate the different classes of defects o...