Level crossing rails are high risk areas due to the combination of the limited effectiveness of current inspection methods and high corrosion rates which often exist.This paper discusses the current UK standard practi...Level crossing rails are high risk areas due to the combination of the limited effectiveness of current inspection methods and high corrosion rates which often exist.This paper discusses the current UK standard practices for the periodic inspection of level crossing rails using visual(VT)and conventional ultrasonic(UT)methods.The limitations of these methods are discussed and how these limitations affect the overall maintenance program for level crossings.A new inspection method,guided wave testing(GWT)is then described with particular emphasis on its advantages for inspecting level crossings.Finally,a review is given of the current Network Rail trial of GWT on level crossings using the G-Scan system,with representative results which demonstrate the effectiveness of GWT for this application.展开更多
文摘Level crossing rails are high risk areas due to the combination of the limited effectiveness of current inspection methods and high corrosion rates which often exist.This paper discusses the current UK standard practices for the periodic inspection of level crossing rails using visual(VT)and conventional ultrasonic(UT)methods.The limitations of these methods are discussed and how these limitations affect the overall maintenance program for level crossings.A new inspection method,guided wave testing(GWT)is then described with particular emphasis on its advantages for inspecting level crossings.Finally,a review is given of the current Network Rail trial of GWT on level crossings using the G-Scan system,with representative results which demonstrate the effectiveness of GWT for this application.
