Rail Inspection Systems Analysis and Technology Survey

Details

• Creators:
  Kaiser, W. D. ; Byers, R. H. ; Ensminger, D. ; Meacham, H. C. ; Flora, J. H.
• Corporate Creators:
  Battelle Memorial Institute. Columbus Laboratories
• Corporate Contributors:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Inspection
  • Nondestructive tests
  • Rail (Railroads)
  • Railroad tracks
  • Ultrasonic tests
  • High speed vehicles
  • Analysis
  • Cost effectiveness
  • Costs
  • Defects
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT-TSC-FRA-77-13 ; FRA/ORD-77/39
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Abstract:
  The study was undertaken to identify existing rail inspection system capabilities and methods which might be used to improve these capabilities. Task I was a study to quantify existing inspection parameters and Task II was a cost effectiveness study to utilize the results of Task I in defining the total costs incurred in inspecting and replacing rail and in defining the most cost effective inspection system. Some of the major findings from these studies were that the practices of stopping for hand check and to mark flaws and of manually processing all data were the major factors presently limiting inspection speeds. It was concluded that use of automatic data processing and elimination of the stops would allow speeds to be increased to about 25 mph (40 kmph) and inspection costs would be reduced by about a factor of 2. It was also concluded that with extensive transducer and carriage development, speeds up to 50 mph (80 kmph) were feasible and would further reduce inspection costs from 0 up to a maximum of about 30 percent depending upon usage. A recommendation was made to develop an inspection vehicle with an ultimate speed capability of 50 mph (80 kmph) or higher.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DOT-TSC-979
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/10323/dot_10323_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.52 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b6c159a92bacce28bf6fbcb27038346c2d49f5e9b4becebf6b5482fb8502d287