Guided Wave Propagation for Monitoring the Rail Base

In order to monitor the rail base, the dispersion characteristics and propagation properties of the guided wave are studied. Firstly, two modes named as Modes V1 and V2 are selected by the semianalytical finite element method (SAFE). The region at the bottom edge can be monitored by Mode V1, while the junction of the base edge and the flange can be detected by Mode V2. Then, the characteristics in the propagation process are analyzed using the finite element method (FEM). The two modes can be separated about 0.6 ms after they are excited. Thirdly, a wave attenuation algorithm based on mean is proposed to quantify the wave attenuation. Both waves can have weak attenuation and be detected within 5 m. Finally, a mode-identified experiment is performed to validate the aforementioned analysis. And a defect detection experiment is performed to demonstrate the excellent monitoring characteristics using Mode V2. These results can be used to monitor the rail base in practice engineering