On the use of ultrasonic guided waves for the health monitoring of rails

This paper deals with the health monitoring of rails. Many nondestructive techniques have been applied to rule on the health of rails. Ultrasonic guided waves (UGWs) technique is one among them. The current study focuses on this technique. First, it describes several kinds of defects that can occur in rails. Then, it presents the principle, advantages and limitations of UGW technique. The paper gathers as exhaustive as possible the previous works in which the said technique was used as a tool to monitor the health of rails. The paper put special emphasis on the use of UGW in structural health monitoring (SHM) context. In order to better understand the benefit/need of this technique in this context, by especially the non-specialist reader, a background concerning SHM is provided.