Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Techniques Used In Rail Inspection

By Gwen Lowe


The second cause of railway accidents after human errors is rail track tragic failures. According to the researches done to determine railway transportation safety, most of these failures are facilitated by maintenance problems such as poor railway inspections. In order to reduce these problems and ensure people find it easier to maintain railways under the appropriate standards, there are various rail inspection techniques that have been put into use.

One of these methods is the use high-tech ultrasound equipment. These apparatus are made to operate through generating short ultrasound pulse waves with frequencies of less than fifteen MHz towards the metals being examined that are also reflected back to such devices as an interface of such faults. The devices mostly show the results in the type of amplitude signals that represent both wave distance and intensity.

The application of self-induced eddy currents is also a great way to detect faults in railways. This is achieved by distributing eddy currents on the surface of conductors, which in turn induces a magnetic field. Normally, the electrical conductivity strength of such metals depends on the strength of the magnetic field. Lower conductivity in the rails would mean the rails have faults hence need for repairs.

Another method for detecting flaws in rails is the use of radiography technology. The technology involves the transmission of electromagnetic radiation specifically x-rays on the rails. Since these rays moves at high frequencies, they would penetrate to the interior of the material, which in turn would create an image of such objects. The image obtained is used to determine the condition of such materials.

To detect flaws on the surface and subsurface of rails, some people also use the magnetic particle inspection technology. This technology uses the concept of inducing magnetic flux on metal surfaces like iron, nickel and cobalt. Naturally, the magnetic field per volume of metals is higher than the one for air hence if the metal does not have a continuous flow, the magnetic flux would leak.

The use of rail assessment cars is also common when detecting faults on railways. These cars are installed with high-tech probes and transducers on the examination boards that aid in the process of testing mileage and other sight problems on rails. The average speed at which these cars can move in kilometers per hour is mostly estimated to be not less than forty-eight.

Using electromagnetic acoustic transducers also plays a great role in the railway industry. Transducers use electromagnetic mechanisms to automatically generate certain waves when passed on conductors. These waves aid determine the existence of faults on such materials that ensures the appropriate measures can be taken.

Whenever traveling by trains, people always have the desire of arriving safe. However, in frequent cases some train travelers do not reach their destinations safely and comfortably with some of the causes being faults within the rail tracks. To be able to reduce such failures, there are various methods that have been developed to enable people have easier time whenever examining rails for flaws.




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