Development of autonomous ACFM rail inspection techniques

Rowshandel, Hamed; Papaelias, Mayorkinos; Roberts, Clive; Davis, Claire

doi:10.1784/insi.2011.53.2.85

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…When the workpiece being inspected is a pipe, it is difficult for the probe to induce a uniform current of stable intensity on the surface of the pipe. The commercial ACFM micropencil probe that is manufactured by TSC is used to size the subsurface section of multiple cracks and determine the propagation angle for non-vertical surface-breaking cracks in rail and wheels [10], [20]- [23]. However, the detection range of the micropencil probe is relatively small and the efficiency is relatively low.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel ACFM Probe With Flexible Sensor Array for Pipe Cracks Inspection

Zhao

Yuan

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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Pipes are important components for well drilling, production, and transportation in petroleum industry. However, due to factors such as vibration, corrosion, fatigue damage, etc., pipes are prone to cracks. This paper presents a novel ACFM probe with flexible sensor array for the inspection of inner and outer cracks in pipes with different diameters. The simulation model of the ACFM probe with flexible sensor array is established by the finite element method. The influences of the crack length and the lift-off on the distance between the Bz peaks and troughs are analyzed respectively. The relationship between the offset distance of the crack from the pickup coil center and the detection sensitivity is studied. The probe made by flexible PCB and the testing system are developed. The experiments are carried out. The results of experiments and simulations show that the probe with flexible sensor array can detect inner and outer surface cracks for pipes with different diameters, and both circumferential and axial cracks can be identified. The distance between the Bz peaks and troughs can measure the crack length. When the crack is offset from the center of the pickup coil, the adjacent pickup coil can compensate for the detection sensitivity. INDEX TERMS ACFM, flexible sensor array, pipe cracks inspection.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel ACFM Probe With Flexible Sensor Array for Pipe Cracks Inspection

Zhao

Yuan

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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“…This paper reports on the relationship between the ACFM Bz signal and the vertical angle of surface-breaking cracks, which then allows the crack vertical depth to be determined via a simple calculation using the pocket length determined from the Bx signal. The results presented in this paper build on previous work on the capability of ACFM signals for RCF crack size estimation [3,[26][27][28][29]. Section 2 introduces the modelling method and the validation experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Determining the propagation angle for non-vertical surface-breaking cracks and its effect on crack sizing using an ACFM sensor

Shen

Zhou

Rowshandel

et al. 2015

Meas. Sci. Technol.

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Alternating current field measurement (ACFM) probes are used to detect and size cracks in a range of engineering components. Crack sizing for this, and other electromagnetic (EM) based NDT systems, relies on relating the signal obtained to the actual crack length. For cracks that do not propagate vertically, such as rolling contact fatigue cracks in rails, predicting the crack depth, which determines the rail depth to be removed by grinding, requires an assumed propagation angle into the material as no method to determine crack vertical angle from the EM signals has been reported. This paper discusses the relationship between ACFM signals and propagation angles for surface-breaking cracks using a COMSOL model. The Bx signal accurately predicts the crack pocket length when the vertical angle is 30-90° but underestimates pocket length for shallower angles, e.g. a 50% underestimate is seen for a 3.2 mm pocket length crack propagating at a vertical angle of 10°. A new measure, the Bz trough-peak ratio, is proposed to determine the crack vertical angle. These are verified by experimental measurements using a commercial ACFM pencil probe for cracks with a range of vertical angles between 10° and 90°.

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“…117,128 ACFM technology is suitable for rail RCF detection and capable of detecting at high speeds. [129][130][131][132][133][134] First, this technology introduces a uniform current to the surface of the measured specimen. When there are surface 116 defects in the tested structure, the current line will be cut off, forcing the current to flow below the defect and around the defect end.…”

Section: Short-range Rail Ndt Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guided wave–based rail flaw detection technologies: state-of-the-art review

Huat

Koh

et al. 2021

Structural Health Monitoring

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The unavoidable increase in train speed and load, as well as the aging of railway facilities, is requiring more and more attention to rail defects detection. As a promising tool for rail, in-service high-speed inspection, guided wave–based detection technologies have been developed in succession by researches in the past two decades. However, there is a lack of a systematic review on the developments and performances of these technologies. This article reviews ultrasonic rail inspection methods comprehensively with the focus on the state-of-the-art technologies based on guided wave. Different excitation options, including train wheel, electromagnetic acoustic transducer, pulsed laser, air-coupled, and contact piezoelectric transducer, are described, respectively, along with their inspection sensitivities, regions, and potential speeds. Finally, future challenges and prospects are discussed to a certain extent to provide references for researchers in this area.

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Development of autonomous ACFM rail inspection techniques

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

A Novel ACFM Probe With Flexible Sensor Array for Pipe Cracks Inspection

A Novel ACFM Probe With Flexible Sensor Array for Pipe Cracks Inspection

Determining the propagation angle for non-vertical surface-breaking cracks and its effect on crack sizing using an ACFM sensor

Guided wave–based rail flaw detection technologies: state-of-the-art review

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