Damage Detection in Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers using Acoustic Emission

3rd International Conference on Innovative Materials, Structures and Technologies

Clark, A.^1 ; Kaewunruen, S.^1,2 ; Janeliukstis, R.^3 ; Papaelias, M.^4

Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom^1

Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom^2

Department of Civil Engineering, Riga Technical University, Institute of Materials and Structures, Riga, Latvia^3

School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom^4

关键词: Emission technology;    Experimental investigations;    Experimental laboratory;    Prestressed concrete sleepers;    Railway concrete sleepers;    Railway prestressed concrete sleeper;    Static and dynamic loading;    Three-point bending test;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/251/1/012068/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/251/1/012068

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) are safety-critical elements in railway tracks that distribute the wheel loads from the rails to the track support system. Over a period of time, the concrete sleepers age and deteriorate in addition to experiencing various types of static and dynamic loading conditions, which are attributable to train operations. In many cases, structural cracks can develop within the sleepers due to high intensity impact loads or due to poor track maintenance. Often, cracks of sleepers develop and present at the midspan due to excessive negative bending. These cracks can cause broken sleepers and sometimes called 'center bound' problem in railway lines. This paper is the world first to present an application of non-destructive acoustic emission technology for damage detection in railway concrete sleepers. It presents experimental investigations in order to detect center-bound cracks in railway prestressed concrete sleepers. Experimental laboratory testing involves three-point bending tests of four concrete sleepers. Three-point bending tests correspond to a real failure mode, when the loads are not transferred uniformly to the ballast support. It is observed that AE sensing provides an accurate means for detecting the location and magnitude of cracks in sleepers. Sensor location criticality is also highlighted in the paper to demonstrate the reliability-based damage detection of the sleepers.