Monitorail - a programme about rail inspection using ultrasonic guided waves

To find out more please visit: https://www.twi-global.com/what-we-do... or http://www.monitorail.eu/

The aim of the Monitorail project is to develop a cost effective wireless condition monitoring system utilising long range ultrasonic inspection and acoustic emission monitoring technologies. The system is to be used to monitor critical areas of rails where the probability of defects is high or there is limited access to carry out conventional inspection techniques. This will improve the European railway system for better efficiency and safety.
The project will reduce the substantial costs related to rail inspection, and contribute to achieving the target set by the European rail industry to reduce the overall maintenance expenditure by 30% by 2020.
A significant increase in the availability of the network is anticipated owing to increased reliability of detection of potential failures.
The main technical objectives of the project are: Development of long range ultrasonic and acoustic emission methods for accurate flaw detection in rails; Development of novel permanently mounted transducer arrays and electronic hardware for this monitoring task; Development of data analysis tools for automated defect recognition; Development of enabling technology for continuous SHM including wireless communications and energy harvesting and storage methods to power the system.