| Title | Operational Parameters in Acoustic Signature Inspection of Railroad Wheels |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 50052 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Dousis, D.; Finch, R. D. |
| Source | 296p. in various pagings |
| Corporate Creator | University of Houston |
| Corporate Contributor |
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.); United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development |
| Publisher | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration |
| Publication Date | 19800401 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | A brief summary is given of some prior studies which established the feasibility of using acoustic signatures for inspection of railroad wheels. The purpose of the present work was to elucidate operational parameters which would be of importance for the development of a prototype system. Experimental and theoretical investigations were conducted to obtain more information on the effects on wheel vibrations of geometrical variations, wear, internal stress etc. Hardware improvements and interfacing were carried out for a wayside installation, in addition to software development for real time data acquisition and processing. Field tests were made to evaluate system performance, to permit follow-up on certain wheels and to obtain tape recordings from a sample of axle sets in service. These tape recordings were used to optimize the data processing software and to attempt to correlate identifiable wheel conditions with characteristics of the acoustic signature. The greatest signature differences were obtained when one of a pair of wheels was cracked. Differential wear was found to be a major cause of differences in the signatures of good wheel pairs. It is claimed that the knowledge gained from this study is sufficient to warrant the installation of a prototype system with a reasonable likelihood of success. Another important finding is that the frequencies of certain resonant modes shift slightly with changes in residual stress. |
| Rosap ID | dot:11451 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/11451 |
| TRT Terms | Acoustic measuring instruments; Acoustic signature; Acoustics; Computer programs; Cracking; Finite element method; Inspection; Railroad facilities; Railroad trains; Stresses; Structural analysis; Vehicle components; Vehicle maintenance; Wear; Wheels |
| Classification | AGR - IMPACTS - Environment; NTL - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - Rail Energy and Environment; NTL - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Energy and Environment |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| Contract Number | DOT-TSC-1187; RR031/R0312 |
| Report Number | FRA/ORD-80/21; DOT-TSC-FRA-80-9 |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/50000/50000/50052/DOT-TSC-FRA-80-9.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |