Rail damage detection device and rail damage detection method

Abstract

To provide a rail damage detection device capable of efficiently detecting rail damage such as a transverse fissure, from a vehicle side, and a rail damage detection method.SOLUTION: A rail damage detection device detects rail damage from a vehicle 1 side. The rail damage detection device includes: a transmission probe 31 to be attached to the vehicle side; a reception probe 32 to be attached to the vehicle side on a position at a prescribed distance away from the transmission probe in the longitudinal direction of a rail 2; a storage part for recording received data of a guide wave measured by the reception probe; a data extraction part for extracting data of a frequency and a wave number set to suit the detection of the rail damage, from the received data recorded in the storage part; and a damage determination part for determining presence / absence of the rail damage based on the reception intensity of the data extracted by the data extraction part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , , , , , , , , ,

[0005] , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a rail damage detection device and a rail damage detection method for detecting rail damage from the vehicle side.

Background Art

[0002] Rail breaks in railways occur due to damage to the rails caused by repeated vehicle running, significantly reducing the running safety of vehicles. Therefore, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, railway operators detect rail breaks by using, for example, the signal current flowing through the rails for the purpose of detecting the position of vehicles called track circuits. <00​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​However, in flaw detection methods that input ultrasonic waves from the top surface of the rail, the propagation of ultrasonic waves is obstructed by horizontally propagating cracks (horizontal cracks: see Figure 3) near the top surface, making it impossible to detect vertically propagating cracks (transverse cracks: see Figure 3) that can cause rail breakage. Therefore, currently, the depth of transverse cracks is determined by manual flaw detection from the side of the rail, but this requires a great deal of effort. Furthermore, inspection is difficult under conditions where the probe cannot be properly applied to the side of the rail, such as on worn rails or rails at level crossings.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a rail damage detection device and a rail damage detection method that enable efficient detection of rail damage such as lateral cracks from the vehicle side. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above objective, the rail damage detection device of the present invention is a rail damage detection device that allows rail damage to be detected from the vehicle side, and is characterized by comprising: an ultrasonic transmitting probe attached to the vehicle side; an ultrasonic receiving probe attached to the vehicle side at a predetermined distance from the ultrasonic transmitting probe in the longitudinal direction of the rail; a storage unit that records received data of guide waves measured by the ultrasonic receiving probe; a data extraction unit that extracts data of frequency and wavenumber set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the received data recorded in the storage unit; and a damage determination unit that determines whether or not there is rail damage based on the received intensity of the data extracted by the data extraction unit.

[0009] Here, the data extracted by the data extraction unit is preferably set to a frequency of 200 kHz or less, and the number of burst waves is preferably 3 to 10. Furthermore, the damage determination unit can be configured to evaluate that there is damage or a joint at the inspection point if the received signal strength is below a first threshold, and to evaluate that there is a joint if the received signal strength is below a second threshold. In addition, the damage determination unit can utilize the position information of horizontal cracks in the rail to be detected.

[0010] Furthermore, the invention of a rail damage detection method is a rail damage detection method that allows rail damage to be detected from the vehicle side, and is characterized by comprising the steps of: having an ultrasonic transmitting probe and an ultrasonic receiving probe positioned at a predetermined distance from there to the vehicle in the longitudinal direction of the rail, and driving the vehicle along the rail to be detected to acquire received data of guide waves of a frequency set to be suitable for detecting rail damage; extracting data of a set number of burst waves from the received data; and determining whether or not there is rail damage based on the received intensity of the extracted data. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The rail damage detection device of the present invention, configured as described above, has an ultrasonic transmitting probe and an ultrasonic receiving probe attached to the vehicle side, which serve as sensors for detecting rail damage. It also includes a data extraction unit that extracts data with frequencies and wavenumbers set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the measured guide waves. Based on the received intensity of the data extracted by the data extraction unit, the damage determination unit determines whether or not there is rail damage.

[0012] With this configuration, rail damage such as lateral cracks can be efficiently detected from the vehicle side by installing ultrasonic transmitting probes and ultrasonic receiving probes in positions easily accessible to the vehicle, without needing to install any equipment on the ground.

[0013] Furthermore, the invention of a rail damage detection method involves driving a vehicle equipped with an ultrasonic transmitting probe and an ultrasonic receiving probe along the rails to acquire received data at a frequency set to be suitable for detecting rail damage.

[0014] Then, based on the reception intensity of the data of the set wave number of the burst wave, it is determined whether there is rail damage. That is, without providing any equipment on the ground side, rail damage can be efficiently detected from the reception data by the ultrasonic transmission probe and the ultrasonic reception probe attached to the vehicle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] [Figure 1] It is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the rail damage detection device of the present embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram explaining the configuration of the rail damage detection device of the present embodiment. [Figure 3] It is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the state of a rail with a crack. [Figure 4] It is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the slit depth from the top surface of the rail, the frequency of the guided wave, and the reception intensity. [Figure 5] It is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the gate setting of the burst wave. [Figure 6] It is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a method of converting reception data into a time history waveform. [Figure 7] It is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the reception intensity of the guided wave that becomes reception data. [Figure 8] It is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the threshold value of the reception intensity for determination. [Figure 9] It is a flowchart explaining the processing flow of the rail damage detection method of the present embodiment. [Figure 10] It is a diagram explaining an example where false detection occurs when determining only based on the reception intensity of reception data. (a) is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the reception intensity of reception data, and (b) is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the false detection location. [Figure 11] It is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a determination method using the standard deviation.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for schematically explaining the configuration of a rail damage detection device according to the present embodiment.

[0017] The rail 2 constituting the track is repeatedly contacted with the wheels 12 of the vehicle 1 traveling along the rail 2, so that cracks called shelling occur on the top surface and may progress to cracks such as horizontal cracks and transverse cracks as shown in FIG. 3. Here, a crack that has progressed horizontally from the shelling on the top surface is called a "horizontal crack", and a crack that has progressed vertically from the shelling is called a "transverse crack".

[0018] The vehicle 1 on which the rail damage detection device according to the present embodiment is provided may be an inspection vehicle for maintenance or a general railway vehicle constituting a train or the like. Hereinafter, an example in which the detection device is provided in a vehicle 1 in which bogies 11 are arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction on a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped vehicle body will be described.

[0019] The bogie 11 includes a bogie frame 111 having a rectangular shape in plan view, and wheels 12 that travel on each of the pair of rails 2 are connected by axles. In addition, two sets of combinations of wheels 12 and axles (wheel axles) are provided in one bogie 11 in the front-rear direction. Further, axle boxes and axle box support devices are provided at the ends of the axles.

[0020] A pair of non-contact ultrasonic probes serving as sensors for transmitting and receiving guided waves propagating through the rail 二 are attached to the vehicle 1 configured as described above. The pair of ultrasonic probes are a transmission probe 31 serving as an ultrasonic transmission probe and a reception probe 32 serving as an ultrasonic reception probe. The transmission probe 31 and the reception probe 32 are attached to the bogie 11, the vehicle body, or the like of the vehicle 1 at positions separated by a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction of the rail 2.

[0021] The physical properties and states of the inspection object existing in the process of receiving the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the transmission probe 31 by the reception probe 32 can be evaluated based on the reception status of the reception probe 32.

[0022] Figure 1 schematically shows the propagation of ultrasonic waves (guided waves) along rail 2. Specifically, ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting probe 31 attached to the bogie frame 111 of vehicle 1 propagate through the air and enter rail 2, propagate along rail 2, and then propagate through the air again to be received by the receiving probe 32 attached to the bogie frame 111.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, if there is a crack such as a transverse crack in the rail 2, the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting probe 31 will propagate through the air and enter the rail 2, but the propagation within the rail 2 (guided waves) will have a different intensity than when they propagate through an undamaged rail 2 and will be received by the receiving probe 32.

[0024] In short, if there are joints in rail 2, cracks (horizontal cracks, transverse cracks) as shown in Figure 3, or rail fractures, the received intensity of the ultrasound received by the receiving probe 32 will change. The gain of ultrasound changes depending on the strength of transmission and reception, but even if a crack occurs in the rail head, the propagation of ultrasound will change compared to the healthy section. Therefore, this change is detected to detect transverse cracks in the rail head.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the rail damage detection device of this embodiment consists of a transmitting probe 31 attached to the vehicle side, a receiving probe 32 attached to the vehicle side at a predetermined distance from the transmitting probe 31 in the longitudinal direction of the rail 2, a storage unit 6 for recording received data measured by the receiving probe 32, and a pulser receiver 4, a PC unit 5, and a data processing device 42 for measurement, control, and calculation processing.

[0026] The PC unit 5 is a processing unit such as a personal computer. This PC unit 5 may be mounted on the vehicle 1, or it may be installed in a separate control building or other location. The storage unit 6 may be a hard disk or the like that is incorporated into or connected to the PC unit 5, or it may be a storage medium such as flash memory inserted into the PC unit 5, or it may utilize a cloud server.

[0027] The pulse receiver 4, controlled by the PC unit 5, can generate various types of pulses, such as rectangular pulses, rectangular bursts, and rectangular chirps, at arbitrarily set frequencies and output them from the transmitting probe 31. The pulse receiver 4 also receives the electrical signal (gain) received by the receiving probe 32 and amplified by the external preamplifier 41, filters it, and transmits it to the PC unit 5 as ultrasonic reception data.

[0028] On the other hand, the data processing device 42 is a digitizer for performing image processing and frequency analysis (such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)) of the received data. The received ultrasonic data, which has been processed by the data processing device 42, can be viewed on the monitor of the PC unit 5.

[0029] The PC unit 5 is equipped with a data extraction unit that extracts data with frequencies and wavenumbers set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the received data recorded in the storage unit 6, and a damage determination unit that determines whether or not there is rail damage based on the received intensity of the data extracted by the data extraction unit.

[0030] In the rail damage detection device of this embodiment, the intensity of the received ultrasonic waves (burst waves) that are repeatedly transmitted and received at the same period between transmitting and receiving probes (31, 32) set at a certain distance apart is analyzed. At this time, by setting a frequency and time domain (wavenumber) that is sensitive to transverse cracks, data corresponding to the depth of the transverse cracks is extracted.

[0031] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the slit depth from the top surface of rail 2, the frequency of the guided wave, and the received intensity (Reference: Konaya et al., "Ultrasonic propagation simulation for rails with slits simulating transverse cracks," 77th Annual Scientific Conference of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, September 2022).

[0032] To detect transverse cracks, it is necessary to set the ultrasonic frequency band to one that provides good sensitivity when the depth (X mm) of the rail 2 from the top surface of the head where the transverse crack occurs is approximately 10 mm to 40 mm. As can be seen in Figure 4, when the frequency is 100 kHz, the received signal strength decreases sharply when the depth of the slit from the top surface is around 30 mm to 40 mm. Furthermore, at frequencies of 150 kHz and 200 kHz, it can be seen that the received signal strength decreases sharply (to about 50%) when the slit becomes deeper than approximately 10 mm from the top surface.

[0033] Therefore, in practical terms, we focus on the frequency band of 200 kHz or less as an ultrasonic frequency suitable for detecting transverse cracks that have progressed to a depth greater than 10 mm from the top of the head, which are the type of cracks that need to be detected. In other words, to be suitable for detecting transverse cracks, which are rail damage that occurs at a depth of about 10 mm to 40 mm from the top of the head, we set the ultrasonic frequency in the range of 100 kHz to 200 kHz, preferably 100 kHz to 150 kHz.

[0034] Next, we will describe the wavenumber of the burst wave, which is set to be suitable for detecting transverse cracks, which are rail damage. The ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting probe 31 are repeatedly transmitted as burst waves, or wave clusters. A burst wave is a single-frequency waveform signal that lasts for a predetermined time, and the single frequency is set to 200 kHz or less, as described above.

[0035] The number of waves in the burst wave should be set to approximately 3 to 10 waves, preferably 3 to 6 waves, so that the response of the received wave group is clear. For example, if the number of waves is 1, the response may not be visible. Therefore, burst waves with multiple wave counts will be transmitted.

[0036] The burst wave input from the transmitting probe 31 undergoes mode conversion and other processes while propagating along rail 2 from the set wavenumber, making it appear as if the wavenumber has increased. On the other hand, the response that responds sensitively to the size of the transverse crack is approximately the set wavenumber, so the gate is set to approximately that wavenumber.

[0037] Figure 5 illustrates the gate settings for the burst wave. Figure 5 shows the burst wave intensity measured in three cases: a case where rail 2 is undamaged (no damage), a case where only a horizontal crack occurs in rail 2 (horizontal crack), and a case where a horizontal crack and a transverse crack occur at a depth of 20 mm from the top surface of rail 2 (horizontal crack & transverse crack depth 20 mm).

[0038] As can be seen in Figure 5, in all cases, if the number of waves becomes too large, it becomes impossible to distinguish between the cases due to mode conversions that occur during propagation along rail 2. Therefore, a gate is set at a point where the number of waves becomes, for example, 3 waves, and the received intensity up to the set number of waves (3 waves in this example) is extracted as received data.

[0039] Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method for converting received data into a time history waveform. The pulse receiver 4 outputs a repeating pulse at a frequency set to 200 kHz or less (Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF)). Therefore, the received data with a PRF period is converted into a time history waveform.

[0040] For example, the rail 2 is divided equally in the longitudinal direction, and measurement cycles (t1, t2, t3) are set based on the running speed of vehicle 1 during inspection. Then, in each measurement cycle (t1, t2, t3), the maximum value (peak intensity) or average value between gates is output for each PRF cycle.

[0041] The state of each measurement period (t1, t2, t3) is determined from the peak intensity of the received signal strength and the results of the averaging process obtained in this way. For example, if the received signal strength of the time history data is high, such as close to 1, the rail 2 in that inspection section is determined to be in good condition. If it is low, such as close to 0, the rail 2 in that inspection section is determined to have an opening.

[0042] Incidentally, the rail damage detection device of this embodiment can not only distinguish between sound sections and openings such as joints, but can also determine the presence or absence of damaged areas such as transverse cracks that do not reach openings.

[0043] Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the received intensity of the guided wave, which is the received data. As shown in this figure, the rail damage detection device of this embodiment makes it possible to detect not only sound sections and joints, but also the presence of damaged areas.

[0044] As can be seen in Figure 7, the signal strength at both the joint and the damaged area is lower than that at other healthy areas. On the other hand, the signal strength at the joint is even lower than that at the damaged area, so multiple thresholds for signal strength are used to distinguish between the two conditions.

[0045] Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating thresholds for determining reception strength. This figure shows the relationship between the condition of the four inspection sections of rail 2 and the reception strength measured in each inspection section. Here, an inspection section without damage is designated as "No Damage," an inspection section with only horizontal cracks is designated as "Horizontal Crack," an inspection section with horizontal cracks and transverse cracks at a depth of 20 mm from the top surface is designated as "Horizontal Crack & Transverse Crack 20 mm," and an inspection section with horizontal cracks and transverse cracks at a depth of 30 mm from the top surface is designated as "Horizontal Crack & Transverse Crack 30 mm."

[0046] First, a first threshold is set to distinguish between sections that are "undamaged," such as sound sections, and sections that have horizontal cracks or joints. For example, if the first threshold is set to 0.5, then sections in which the received signal strength exceeds this threshold can be determined to be only sound sections or sections with horizontal cracks. If you want to distinguish between sections with damage or joints, including horizontal cracks, and sound sections, you should set the first threshold to around 0.6.

[0047] Furthermore, a second threshold is set to distinguish between cases where the inspection section contains horizontal cracks such as "horizontal crack & transverse crack 20mm" or "horizontal crack & transverse crack 30mm," and cases where it contains openings such as joints. For example, if the second threshold is set to 0.2, it will be possible to determine that a transverse crack has occurred in inspection sections where the received signal strength is below the first threshold but exceeds the second threshold.

[0048] Next, the rail damage detection method of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 9. First, as described above, the transmitting probe 31 and receiving probe 32, which serve as detection sensors, are attached to the front and rear of the bogie 11 of the vehicle 1. When the transmitting probe 31 and receiving probe 32 are attached to the front and rear of the bogie 11, the distance between the probes will be approximately 3.2m.

[0049] In step S1, the frequency and wavenumber of ultrasonic waves (burst waves) to be transmitted and received by the transmitting probe 31 and the receiving probe 32 are initially set. For example, the burst wave frequency is set to 200 kHz or less, and the number of burst waves is set to a range of 3 to 10 waves.

[0050] In step S2, the data extraction unit sets the gate for the ultrasonic waveform to be extracted from the received data. For example, if 3 waves are set as the gate, the data extraction unit will extract the received data up to the 3rd burst wave. In short, the received data within the set gate will be extracted for each PRF period (see Figure 6).

[0051] Meanwhile, in step S3, the sensitivity of the time-history wave is adjusted. Basically, before performing the test, the gain that results in a received signal strength of approximately 80% for the standard rail to be detected is determined.

[0052] Here, when performing inspections using the rail damage detection device of this embodiment, it is assumed that the results will often be used in conjunction with those obtained from conventional horizontal crack testing methods. Furthermore, if horizontal cracks are present, the surface of the rail's top surface may be indented due to the crack, and this can sometimes be visually confirmed as a darkened appearance.

[0053] Therefore, the detection method is partially modified depending on whether or not there is location information for a crack that can be recognized, including visual inspection. First, if there is location information for a horizontal crack on the rail to be detected (step S41), a comparison is made with the received intensity at the inspection point using a standard obtained using the location information for the horizontal crack (step S411).

[0054] For example, before clamping the inspection area with a horizontal crack with the transmitting and receiving probes (31, 32), sensitivity adjustment is performed at the rail position just before the crack. That is, the rail position just before the horizontal crack is treated as a sound area, and a gain of approximately 80% is obtained as a reference value. Then, this reference value is compared with the received strength data of the inspection area.

[0055] On the other hand, if sensitivity adjustment is not performed before the horizontal crack, the received signal strength obtained from the undamaged rail several meters before the horizontal crack is used as a baseline, and a relative comparison is made with the received signal strength data obtained at the inspection site where the horizontal crack is located. Based on the results of this comparison, the received signal strength data at the inspection site is then evaluated.

[0056] Next, in step S42 and beyond, we will explain the case where there is no location information for horizontal cracks. The peak intensity of rails inspected continuously may change in the received signal strength even if there are no cracks or other damage, due to individual differences in the rails and rust on the running surface.

[0057] Therefore, using the gain that corresponds to 80% of the received signal strength of the initially set standard rail as a baseline, if there is a change in signal strength on the rail being detected, correction (gain increase) is performed so that the received signal strength becomes approximately 80%.

[0058] When evaluating cracks such as horizontal cracks, the evaluation is based on the change when the crack is present within the probe interval (3.2m), and the correction should be performed over a sufficiently large area, greater than the probe interval at the crack initiation site. For example, since joints are generally present at 25m intervals (see Figure 7), the increment of the gain to be corrected should be set using the average value (or maximum value, etc.) of the section excluding the joints, and a relative comparison should be made (step S421).

[0059] After making the above settings, the vehicle 1 is driven along rail 2, which is the rail to be detected, and burst waves are repeatedly transmitted from the transmitting probe 31 at the set frequency. The measured data that propagates along rail 2 and is received by the receiving probe 32 is acquired as received data.

[0060] The electrical signal (gain) received by the receiving probe 32 is amplified by the external preamplifier 41 and sent to the pulser receiver 4, from which it is transmitted to the PC unit 5. The received data is then recorded in the storage unit 6 along with information that can be converted into location information such as distance. For example, when driving vehicle 1 at a constant speed, the received data can be converted into location data by associating the measurement time with the received data. It is also possible to associate GPS (Global Positioning System)-based location data with the measured received data.

[0061] Then, by analyzing the received data from each inspection point on the rail to be detected, rail damage is detected. Since this detection responds when cracks such as transverse cracks are present within the probe interval, the inspection points are evaluated using the average value between probes.

[0062] First, in step S5, the initial evaluation for determining transverse cracking is performed using the first threshold. As described above with reference to Figure 8, the presence and depth of transverse cracks are related to the received ultrasound intensity. Therefore, in order to extract transverse cracks, we first compare them with a first threshold. The first threshold is the upper limit of the two thresholds for received intensity.

[0063] For example, to distinguish cases where a transverse crack has occurred, the reception intensity of the inspection site is evaluated with a reception intensity of 0.5 as the first threshold. If the reception intensity of the inspection site exceeds the first threshold (step S51), the inspection site is determined to be undamaged and healthy (step S511).

[0064] In contrast, if the signal strength at the inspection site is below the first threshold, it indicates the possibility of a transverse crack (step S52). However, openings such as seams are also discontinuous areas, so the signal strength will be significantly reduced.

[0065] Therefore, in step S6, in order to distinguish between transverse cracks and seams, the received signal strength at the inspection site is evaluated by setting a second threshold (lower limit), for example, a received signal strength of 0.2. If the received signal strength at the inspection site exceeds the second threshold (step S61), it is determined that there is a transverse crack at the inspection site (step S611). On the other hand, if the received signal strength at the inspection site is below the second threshold (step S62), it is determined that it is a seam and not a transverse crack (step S621).

[0066] Up to this point, we have described a method for detecting transverse cracks using two thresholds, an upper limit and a lower limit for the received signal strength. However, it is also possible to use this method in combination with other detection methods, or to use it independently. The received intensity of the ultrasonic waves propagating through rail 2 fluctuates due to factors such as rust on the top surface of rail 2. Therefore, methods that determine the received intensity itself may result in the system meeting the threshold criteria even if there is no damage.

[0067] For example, Figure 10 illustrates an example of false detection occurring when the received signal strength is determined solely by a threshold value. Figure 10(a) shows the time history waveform based on the peak value of the received signal strength. On the other hand, Figure 10(b) shows the time history waveform after processing, in which data at the seams has been removed from the received signal strength data in Figure 10(a).

[0068] Figure 10(b) shows several locations where the signal strength has decreased after seam removal, one of which is correctly detected as a damaged area. However, the areas circled as "false detections" are actually false detections because there are no cracks such as transverse cracks.

[0069] If simply dividing the received signal strength by two thresholds results in false positives, adding a standard deviation-based judgment can further improve the accuracy of the judgment. Figure 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a judgment method using standard deviation.

[0070] When cracks are present, the fluctuation in received signal strength is a response only at the probe interval, and the fluctuation with respect to distance is more localized than the fluctuation due to rust on the top surface of rail 2. Therefore, the standard deviation of the received data is calculated and used for the determination.

[0071] Figure 11 shows the time history waveform based on the standard deviation of Figure 10(b). For example, by setting a standard deviation threshold of about 0.2, only the same inspection area that was identified as damaged in Figure 10(b) was correctly detected.

[0072] Next, the operation of the rail damage detection device and rail damage detection method of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the rail damage detection device is configured such that a transmitting probe 31 and a receiving probe 32, which serve as sensors for detecting rail damage, are attached to the vehicle 1.

[0073] Furthermore, it includes a data extraction unit that extracts data with frequencies and wavenumbers set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the measured guide waves. Based on the received intensity of the data extracted by the data extraction unit, the damage determination unit determines whether or not there is rail damage.

[0074] With this configuration, rail damage such as lateral cracks can be efficiently detected from the vehicle side by installing the transmitting probe 31 and receiving probe 32 in easily accessible locations on the vehicle 1, such as the bogie 11 or car body, without needing to install any equipment on the ground side.

[0075] The invention for detecting rail damage involves driving a vehicle 1 equipped with a transmitting probe 31 and a receiving probe 32 along the rail 2 to be inspected, thereby acquiring received data at a frequency set to be suitable for detecting rail damage. Then, based on the received intensity of the burst wave data at a set frequency, the presence or absence of rail damage is determined.

[0076] In other words, rail damage can be efficiently detected from the data received by the transmitting probe 31 and receiving probe 32 attached to the vehicle 1, without the need to install any equipment on the ground.

[0077] While embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and any design modifications that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention are included in the present invention.

[0078] For example, in the above embodiment, the case in which the transmitting probe 31 and the receiving probe 32 are attached to an inspection vehicle or vehicle 1 respectively was described, but it is not limited to this, and the transmitting probe 31 and the receiving probe 32 can also be attached to a vehicle such as a pusher that moves along the rail 2 and used for inspection. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0079] 1: Vehicle 2: Rails 31: Transmitting probe (ultrasonic transmitting probe) 32: Receiving probe (ultrasonic receiving probe) 6: Storage section

Claims

1. A rail damage detection device that allows rail damage to be detected from the vehicle side, An ultrasonic transmitting probe that is attached to the vehicle, An ultrasonic receiving probe is attached to the vehicle side at a predetermined distance from the ultrasonic transmitting probe in the longitudinal direction of the rail, A storage unit for recording the received data of guided waves measured by the ultrasonic receiving probe, A data extraction unit extracts data from the received data recorded in the storage unit that has a frequency and wavenumber set to be suitable for detecting rail damage, A rail damage detection device comprising a damage determination unit that determines whether or not there is rail damage based on the received intensity of data extracted by the data extraction unit.

2. The rail damage detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the data extracted by the data extraction unit has a frequency set to 200 kHz or less and the number of burst waves is between 3 and 10.

3. The rail damage detection device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the damage determination unit evaluates that there is damage or a joint at the inspection location when the received intensity is below a first threshold, and evaluates that there is a joint when the received intensity is below a second threshold.

4. The rail damage detection device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the damage determination unit utilizes location information of a horizontal crack in the rail to be detected.

5. A method for detecting rail damage that allows rail damage to be detected from the vehicle side, The steps include: attaching an ultrasonic transmitting probe and an ultrasonic receiving probe positioned at a predetermined distance from it in the longitudinal direction of the rail to the vehicle, driving the vehicle along the rail to be detected, transmitting a burst wave of a frequency set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the ultrasonic transmitting probe, and acquiring received data with the ultrasonic receiving probe; The steps include extracting data of the burst wave with a frequency set to be suitable for detecting rail damage from the received data, A method for detecting rail damage, characterized by comprising the step of determining whether or not there is rail damage based on the received intensity of extracted data.

Images