Advanced ultrasonic method for measuring rail axial stresses with electromagnetic acoustic transducer

Abstract This paper explores the feasibility of the acoustoelastic birefringence method for monitoring the axial stresses in the railroad rails. An electromagnetic-acoustic transducer (EMAT) is incorporated with a superheterodyne-phase-sensitive detector to accomplish noncontacting stress measurements. Two different measurement techniques are employed and compared to each other, both of which use the polarized shear waves propagating transversely to the rail axis. One is the pulsed resonance spectroscopy technique applied to the web, where the surfaces are nearly parallel to each other and support the thickness oscillations. The other method detects the small phase shift that occurs along with the stress application. The phase shifts were measured for the discrete reflection echoes that traveled long distances (top-to-bottom echo and multiple echoes in the head of the rail). The compressive axial load was raised up to 60 tons with the Shinkansen (bullet train) rail samples, which exceeds the buckling load of long rails. Both techniques showed a linear response to stress with a sufficient sensitivity and robustness, which promise the development of a practical railroad maintenance technology. The effects of the liftoff and the residual stress distribution are determined.