Feasibility Study of Fiber-Optic Technology for Broken Rail Detection

Holcomb, Matthew; Mauger, W. David

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Feasibility Study of Fiber-Optic Technology for Broken Rail Detection

2013-10-01
By Holcomb, Matthew ; Mauger, W. David

File Language:

English

Details

Creators:

Holcomb, Matthew ; Mauger, W. David
Corporate Creators:

Transportation Technology Center, Inc.
Corporate Contributors:

United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
Subject/TRT Terms:
Publication/ Report Number:

DOT/FRA/ORD-13/44
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

United States
Corporate Publisher:

United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
Abstract:

This report describes the activities and presents the results of a feasibility study to examine the viability of using fiber-optic acoustic technologies to detect broken rails in railroad tracks. A fiber-optic test bed was constructed at Transportation Technology Center (TTC) that consisted of fiber-optic cable (and related electronics) installed alongside the track of the High Tonnage Loop (HTL) at TTC’s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). The cable was used as an acoustic detector to monitor acoustic energy transmitted by the HTL track through the earth to the cable. Data from the acoustic detector was then analyzed to see if acoustic events from the track could be correlated to broken rails when they occurred during train operations at FAST. During the study, analysts were able to identify and locate rail breaks. Follow-on efforts should focus on enhancing the existing capabilities of the fiber-optic test bed to enable it to detect additional acoustic events such as flat wheels and other railcar defects, as well as train position (including head-end and end-of-train detection), train velocity, length of train, braking issues, and the presence of railway trespassers.
Format:

PDF
Funding:

TO 317 DTFR53-11-D-00008
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/42774/dot_42774_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 1.14 MB]
Collection(s):

US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:bfc3e1a71cdc2b023308cba8a7b24cd34596249782562dab21474d71f5a0948e

File Language:

English

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