Output details

Decay rates of propagating waves in railway tracks at high frequencies

Significance of output:

There are over 2500 broken rails per year in Europe with potential for serious accidents and associated costs of €2bn/year. Current detection of broken rails uses electric track circuits intended primarily for signalling. Introduction of new signalling systems (axle counters and train-based signalling) and limited reliability of the existing system means new systems are required. The study investigated the potential for using vibration in the rails to detect broken rails. It was found that waves propagate over 1km in a railway rail in the ultrasonic frequency range 20-40 kHz indicating potential for detecting breaks. Collaboration with Balfour Beatty (David.Thompson@bbrail.com).