Use of Surface Acoustic Waves for Crack Detection on Railway Track Components—Laboratory Tests

The present work investigates the technical feasibility of a condition monitoring setup aiming at detection gauge corner cracks (aka head checks) in pearlitic railway rails, using wayside (i.e., stationary) with surface acoustic waves (SAW) as its principle. experimental SAW consists pitch-catch piezo transducers equipped comb adaptors to excite and measure narrowband Rayleigh center frequency 1 MHz. experiments were performed on rail subjected cyclic loading 1:1 wheel–rail test rig yielding specific rolling contact fatigue, i.e., checks. Elastodynamic finite integration technique (EFIT) simulations analyze bulk wave propagation predict signals receiver positions. transmission reflection scenarios analyzed numerically via modelled variations crack configurations according number (0–3) depth (0, 0.5 mm mm). numerical results each show clear correlation between appearance intensity check damage attenuation mode.