AIMS This is a prospective randomised study which compares the radiological and functional outcomes of ring and rail fixators in patients with an infected gap (> 3 cm) nonunion of the tibia. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between May 2008 and February 2013, 70 patients were treated at our Institute for a posttraumatic osseocutaneous defect of the tibia measuring at least 3 cm. These were randomised int...

Non-Destructive testing is useful in rail, pipeline and aerospace industries for maintenance of equipment, such as thickness measurements, corrosion and defect detection in materials. In this work a finite element analysis of an Electromagnetic acoustic transducer is presented. EMAT is an emerging technology that provides a non contact process of testing materials compared to ultrasonic sensors...

Different origination theories for squat-type rail defects are examined and confronted with experimental evidence. Based on the morphology of three-dimensional defect crack pattern, a leading directivity governed by tangential stress history, it is shown that assuming dynamic wheel-rail interaction as direct initiation mechanism double-lobed violate causality principle. Rail surface anomalies t...

Surgical dressing after the application of bone grafting material depends on the type and size of the defect. A complete and tension-free wound closure has proved to be successful. In this context the infection problem needs special attention. Bone graft substitutes with an adequate surface structure, porosity and chemical properties, in combination with sufficient blood circulation, hold osteo...

In this paper, an assistant tool for the maintenance of rails in a metro context for normal steel wheeled trains is proposed. The theory of Dynamic Bayesian Networks offers an interesting frame to solve this specific problem. We present a modular modelling of the current rails’ diagnostic process. It simulates the rail degradation, the behavior of the various actors involved in the defect detec...

in this paper effects of fractured sleepers on rail track vibration under moving wheelset have been investigated. two parallel rails of the track have been modeled as euler-bernoulli beams on elastic points as rail pads. also sleepers have been modeled as visco-elastic euler-bernoulli beams. it is assumed that, some sleepers under the rail track have been fractured and modeled by two beams. the...

An experimental study was conducted to simulate high-speed continuous monitoring of broken steel rail. A pair of low frequency narrowband ultrasonic transducers configured in pitch-catch mode was used to obtain signals reflected off of a circumferential notch in a spinning aluminum wheel. Due to the relative motion between the impinging ultrasound emitted from the air coupled transducer and the...