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Research Article

Evaluation of typical rail defects by induction thermography: experimental results and procedure for data analysis during high-speed laboratory testing

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Received 15 Jan 2024, Accepted 03 Apr 2024, Published online: 18 Apr 2024
 

ABSTRACT

Rail inspection via non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques is a critical area of research in the railway industry, significantly affecting transport safety and security. Conventional NDT methods face limitations in on-site applications, with emerging techniques improving defect detectability and inspection speed. Recent advances have highlighted infrared thermography, particularly induction thermography, as a promising alternative due to its non-contact, full-field capabilities for detecting both surface and subsurface rail defects. This study explores induction thermography in detecting key defects such as transversal cracks and head checks in different rail tracks. Novel approaches and procedure for data reconstruction that enhance the thermographic inspection results and allow for dynamic testing conditions are proposed. Additionally, the potential for high-speed on-site applications was investigated, utilizing infrared mirrors and optimally shaped coils. Various test parameters, including geometrical resolution, excitation power, and inspection speed up to 20 km/h, were systematically examined.

Acknowledgements

This work has been part of the project supported by Puglia region S30KXH0–Tesmec Rail DIREC-T ‘DIAGNOSTICA DELL’INTEGRITÀ DI ROTAIE CON METODI DI CONTROLLO NON DISTRUTTIVI INNOVATIVI’ in collaboration with Tesmec Rail company.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Ester D’Accardi: conceptualisation, methodology, validation, investigation, visualisation, formal analysis, software, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing. Giuseppe Dell’Avvocato: methodology, validation, investigation, writing – review and editing. Giuseppe Masciopinto: software, validation, investigation. Gaetano Marinelli: validation, supervision, visualisation, resources, writing – review and editing. Gianluca Fumarola: supervision, visualisation, resources, funding acquisition. Davide Palumbo: methodology, investigation, visualisation, writing – review and editing. Umberto Galietti: methodology, investigation, writing – review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition, resources.

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