Railroad Bridge Inspection Using Drone-Based Digital Image Correlation [Research Results]

Details

• Creators:
  Stuart, Cameron ; Vitzilaios, Nikolaos ; Rizos, Dimitris C ; Sutton, Michael A.
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration ; University of South Carolina
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Drones
  • Remotely piloted aircraft
  • Flight control systems
  • Digital displays
  • Remote sensing
  • Bridge engineering
  • Inspection
  • Railroads
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RR 23-02
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Research Results
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development, and Technology
• Abstract:
  Continuous railroad operations on aging railway infrastructure requires systematic and effective inspection. Visual inspections are time consuming and can lead to inconsistent results. In a research project conducted between April 2021 and June 2022, the University of South Carolina (UofSC) developed and tested a new uncrewed aircraft system (UAS, or drone) for structural inspections. A stereo digital image correlation system (StereoDIC) on this drone made noncontact measurements of deformation and stress on infrastructure. With support from CSX Transportation (CSX), UofSC tested the system on a railroad bridge in Columbia, SC. Project results show that this type of system may be useful for inspecting railroad bridges and other structures.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  693JJ621C000005
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/66524/dot_66524_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 547.87 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8434ca8c2e059eb2fc2f72316b1bc078009e09ca45995109c6161961d8fd40b7d94060ace302090c0071d7b006160cca6b3961c1c89709025790003a4c976b83