acoustic-stress constant (m1). Five different rails were used
in the second and third testing sets: 115RE rail, 119RE rail, two
different 136RE rails, and 141RE rails. The rails used for these
phases were full-size rail sections in their original surface
conditions to reflect the actual behavior of rails. Testing indi-
cated variation in the in situ birefringence between different
rail specimens, with the lower-weight rail specimen generally
showing increased birefringence compared to higher-weight
rails. These values ranged from a low of 0.67 × 10–3 to a high
of 3.61 × 10–3. The testing in the third phase showed a similar
acoustoelastic constant (m1) by experiencing a comparable
rate of change in the birefringence with the change of stress.
These values ranged from 8.44 × 10–6/MPa (5.82 × 10–5/ksi) to
9.44 × 10–6/MPa (6.51 × 10–5/ksi).
The key findings of this research were that the
birefringence-based approach to USM shows tremendous
potential as a tool for stress measurement in rails. However,
variations exist in the in situ, stress-free birefringence values.
The effect of these variations will greatly reduce the accuracy
of the USM stress measurement unless the in situ birefrin-
gence can be characterized. Approaches to determining this
value in situ through multiple measurements captured at dif-
ferent times of the year, such that the tensile and compressive
stresses are measured, is a current research topic, which will
be presented in future publications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors of this paper acknowledge the support from MxV Rail through
the AAR University Program Grand Challenge 2020 under the Agreement
20-0701-007536.
REFERENCES
Alers, G. A., and A. Manzanares. 1990. “Use of Surface Skimming SH
Waves to Measure Thermal and Residual Stresses in Installed Railroad
Tracks.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation,
ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1757–1764. Springer US. https://
doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5772-8_226.
Béliveau, J. G. 1997. “Resonant frequencies of lateral vibrations of rail in
compression.” Canadian Society for Civil Engineering 4:389–98.
Burkhardt, G. L., and H. Kwun. 1988. “Application of the Nonlinear
Harmonics Method to Continuous Measurement of Stress in Railroad
Rail.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation:
Volume 7B, ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1413–1420. Springer
US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0979-6_64.
Enshaeian, A., and P. Rizzo. 2021. “Stability of continuous welded rails:
A state-of-the-art review of structural modeling and nondestructive
evaluation.” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Part F, Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 235 (10): 1291–311. https://doi.
org/10.1177/0954409720986661.
Gokhale, S., and S. Hurlebaus. 2008. “Monitoring of the stress free
temperature in rails using the acoustoelastic effect.” AIP Conference
Proceedings 975 (1). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2902594.
Huang, C.-L., Y. Wu, X. He, M. Dersch, X. Zhu, and J. S. Popovics. 2023.
“A review of non-destructive evaluation techniques for axial thermal stress
and neutral temperature measurement in rail: Physical phenomena and
performance assessment.” NDT &E International 137:102832. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2023.102832.
Hurlebaus, S. 2011. Determination of longitudinal stress in rails. Safety
IDEA Project 15. Transportation Research Board of the National Acade-
mies. https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/idea/finalreports/safety/
s15report.pdf.
Johnson, E. 2004. “Measurement of forces and neutral temperatures in
railway rails – an introductory study.” SP Report. Swedish National Testing
and Research Institute. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ri:
diva-4627.
Kelleher, J., M. B. Prime, D. Buttle, P. M. Mummery, P. J. Webster, J.
Shackleton, and P. J. Withers. 2003. “The Measurement of Residual Stress
in Railway Rails by Diffraction and other Methods.” Journal of Neutron
Research 11 (4): 187–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/10238160410001726602.
Kish, A., and G. Samavedam. 1987. Longitudinal force measurement in
continuous welded rail from beam-column deflection response. AREA
Bulletin 712.
Kish, A., G. Samavedam, and D. Y. Jeong. 1982. “Analysis of thermal
buckling tests on US railroads.” Technical Report. US Department of Trans-
portation. Federal Railroad Administration.
Kish, A., G. Samavedam, and L. Al-Nazer. 2013. “Track buckling preven-
tion: theory, safety concepts, and applications.” Technical Report.
US Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration.
https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/track-buckling-prevention-theory
-safety-concepts-and-applications
Kish, A., S. Kalay, A. Hazell, J. Schoengart, and G. Samavedam. 1993. “Rail
longitudinal force measurement evaluation studies using the track loading
vehicle.” American Railway Engineering Association Bulletin 742:315–42.
Kjell, G., and E. Johnson. 2009. “Measuring axial forces in rail by forced
vibrations: Experiences from a full-scale laboratory experiment.” Proceed-
ings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part F, Journal of Rail and
Rapid Transit 223 (3): 241–54. https://doi.org/10.1243/09544097JRRT210.
Knopf, K., D. C. Rizos, Y. Qian, and M. Sutton. 2021. “A non-contacting
system for rail neutral temperature and stress measurements: Concept
development.” Structural Health Monitoring 20 (1): 84–100. https://doi.
org/10.1177/1475921720923116.
Kwun, H., G. L. Burkhardt, and M. E. Smith. 1990. “Measurement of Longi-
tudinal Stress in Railroad Rail Under Field Conditions Using Nonlinear
Harmonics.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evalu-
ation, ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1895–1902. Springer US
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5772-8_243.
Liu, G., H. Liu, A. Wei, J. Xiao, P. Wang, and S. Li. 2018. “A new device for
stress monitoring in continuously welded rails using bi-directional strain
method.” Journal of Modern Transportation 26 (3): 179–88. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s40534-018-0164-z.
Liu, X., M. R. Saat, and C. P. L. Barkan. 2012. “Analysis of causes of major
train derailment and their effect on accident rates.” Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2289 (1):
154–63. https://doi.org/10.3141/2289-20.
Lonsdale, C. P., and M. Engineer. 1999. “Thermite rail welding: History,
process developments, current practices and outlook for the 21st century.”
AREMA 1999 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
Miri, A., M. Dhanasekar, D. Thambiratnam, B. Weston, and T. H. T.
Chan. 2021. “Analysis of buckling failure in continuously welded railway
tracks.” Engineering Failure Analysis 119:104989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
engfailanal.2020.104989.
Nasrollahi, A., and P. Rizzo. 2019. “Numerical analysis and experimental
validation of an nondestructive evaluation method to measure stress
in rails.” ASME J Nondestructive Evaluation 2 (3): 031002 https://doi.
org/10.1115/1.4043949.
Okada, K. 1980. “Stress-acoustic relations for stress measurement by
ultrasonic technique.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan (E) 1 (3):
193–200. https://doi.org/10.1250/ast.1.193.
Phillips, R., F. Lanza di Scalea, C. Nucera, M. Fateh, and J. Choros. 2014.
“Field testing of prototype systems for the non-destructive measurement
of the neutral temperature of railroad tracks.” Proceedings of the 2014 Joint
Rail Conference. Colorado Springs, CO. 2–4 April. https://doi.org/10.1115/
JRC2014-3735.
Posgay, G., and P. Molnár, P. 2011. “SFT measurement of CWR by the
means of MBN.” 28th Danubia – Adria – Symposium on Advances in
Experimental Mechanics. 28 September–1 October. Siófok, Hungary.
ME
|
RAILROADS
86
M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4
2401 ME January.indd 86 12/20/23 8:01 AM
in the second and third testing sets: 115RE rail, 119RE rail, two
different 136RE rails, and 141RE rails. The rails used for these
phases were full-size rail sections in their original surface
conditions to reflect the actual behavior of rails. Testing indi-
cated variation in the in situ birefringence between different
rail specimens, with the lower-weight rail specimen generally
showing increased birefringence compared to higher-weight
rails. These values ranged from a low of 0.67 × 10–3 to a high
of 3.61 × 10–3. The testing in the third phase showed a similar
acoustoelastic constant (m1) by experiencing a comparable
rate of change in the birefringence with the change of stress.
These values ranged from 8.44 × 10–6/MPa (5.82 × 10–5/ksi) to
9.44 × 10–6/MPa (6.51 × 10–5/ksi).
The key findings of this research were that the
birefringence-based approach to USM shows tremendous
potential as a tool for stress measurement in rails. However,
variations exist in the in situ, stress-free birefringence values.
The effect of these variations will greatly reduce the accuracy
of the USM stress measurement unless the in situ birefrin-
gence can be characterized. Approaches to determining this
value in situ through multiple measurements captured at dif-
ferent times of the year, such that the tensile and compressive
stresses are measured, is a current research topic, which will
be presented in future publications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors of this paper acknowledge the support from MxV Rail through
the AAR University Program Grand Challenge 2020 under the Agreement
20-0701-007536.
REFERENCES
Alers, G. A., and A. Manzanares. 1990. “Use of Surface Skimming SH
Waves to Measure Thermal and Residual Stresses in Installed Railroad
Tracks.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation,
ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1757–1764. Springer US. https://
doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5772-8_226.
Béliveau, J. G. 1997. “Resonant frequencies of lateral vibrations of rail in
compression.” Canadian Society for Civil Engineering 4:389–98.
Burkhardt, G. L., and H. Kwun. 1988. “Application of the Nonlinear
Harmonics Method to Continuous Measurement of Stress in Railroad
Rail.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation:
Volume 7B, ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1413–1420. Springer
US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0979-6_64.
Enshaeian, A., and P. Rizzo. 2021. “Stability of continuous welded rails:
A state-of-the-art review of structural modeling and nondestructive
evaluation.” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Part F, Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 235 (10): 1291–311. https://doi.
org/10.1177/0954409720986661.
Gokhale, S., and S. Hurlebaus. 2008. “Monitoring of the stress free
temperature in rails using the acoustoelastic effect.” AIP Conference
Proceedings 975 (1). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2902594.
Huang, C.-L., Y. Wu, X. He, M. Dersch, X. Zhu, and J. S. Popovics. 2023.
“A review of non-destructive evaluation techniques for axial thermal stress
and neutral temperature measurement in rail: Physical phenomena and
performance assessment.” NDT &E International 137:102832. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2023.102832.
Hurlebaus, S. 2011. Determination of longitudinal stress in rails. Safety
IDEA Project 15. Transportation Research Board of the National Acade-
mies. https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/idea/finalreports/safety/
s15report.pdf.
Johnson, E. 2004. “Measurement of forces and neutral temperatures in
railway rails – an introductory study.” SP Report. Swedish National Testing
and Research Institute. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ri:
diva-4627.
Kelleher, J., M. B. Prime, D. Buttle, P. M. Mummery, P. J. Webster, J.
Shackleton, and P. J. Withers. 2003. “The Measurement of Residual Stress
in Railway Rails by Diffraction and other Methods.” Journal of Neutron
Research 11 (4): 187–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/10238160410001726602.
Kish, A., and G. Samavedam. 1987. Longitudinal force measurement in
continuous welded rail from beam-column deflection response. AREA
Bulletin 712.
Kish, A., G. Samavedam, and D. Y. Jeong. 1982. “Analysis of thermal
buckling tests on US railroads.” Technical Report. US Department of Trans-
portation. Federal Railroad Administration.
Kish, A., G. Samavedam, and L. Al-Nazer. 2013. “Track buckling preven-
tion: theory, safety concepts, and applications.” Technical Report.
US Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration.
https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/track-buckling-prevention-theory
-safety-concepts-and-applications
Kish, A., S. Kalay, A. Hazell, J. Schoengart, and G. Samavedam. 1993. “Rail
longitudinal force measurement evaluation studies using the track loading
vehicle.” American Railway Engineering Association Bulletin 742:315–42.
Kjell, G., and E. Johnson. 2009. “Measuring axial forces in rail by forced
vibrations: Experiences from a full-scale laboratory experiment.” Proceed-
ings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part F, Journal of Rail and
Rapid Transit 223 (3): 241–54. https://doi.org/10.1243/09544097JRRT210.
Knopf, K., D. C. Rizos, Y. Qian, and M. Sutton. 2021. “A non-contacting
system for rail neutral temperature and stress measurements: Concept
development.” Structural Health Monitoring 20 (1): 84–100. https://doi.
org/10.1177/1475921720923116.
Kwun, H., G. L. Burkhardt, and M. E. Smith. 1990. “Measurement of Longi-
tudinal Stress in Railroad Rail Under Field Conditions Using Nonlinear
Harmonics.” In Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evalu-
ation, ed. D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti, 1895–1902. Springer US
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5772-8_243.
Liu, G., H. Liu, A. Wei, J. Xiao, P. Wang, and S. Li. 2018. “A new device for
stress monitoring in continuously welded rails using bi-directional strain
method.” Journal of Modern Transportation 26 (3): 179–88. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s40534-018-0164-z.
Liu, X., M. R. Saat, and C. P. L. Barkan. 2012. “Analysis of causes of major
train derailment and their effect on accident rates.” Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2289 (1):
154–63. https://doi.org/10.3141/2289-20.
Lonsdale, C. P., and M. Engineer. 1999. “Thermite rail welding: History,
process developments, current practices and outlook for the 21st century.”
AREMA 1999 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
Miri, A., M. Dhanasekar, D. Thambiratnam, B. Weston, and T. H. T.
Chan. 2021. “Analysis of buckling failure in continuously welded railway
tracks.” Engineering Failure Analysis 119:104989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
engfailanal.2020.104989.
Nasrollahi, A., and P. Rizzo. 2019. “Numerical analysis and experimental
validation of an nondestructive evaluation method to measure stress
in rails.” ASME J Nondestructive Evaluation 2 (3): 031002 https://doi.
org/10.1115/1.4043949.
Okada, K. 1980. “Stress-acoustic relations for stress measurement by
ultrasonic technique.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan (E) 1 (3):
193–200. https://doi.org/10.1250/ast.1.193.
Phillips, R., F. Lanza di Scalea, C. Nucera, M. Fateh, and J. Choros. 2014.
“Field testing of prototype systems for the non-destructive measurement
of the neutral temperature of railroad tracks.” Proceedings of the 2014 Joint
Rail Conference. Colorado Springs, CO. 2–4 April. https://doi.org/10.1115/
JRC2014-3735.
Posgay, G., and P. Molnár, P. 2011. “SFT measurement of CWR by the
means of MBN.” 28th Danubia – Adria – Symposium on Advances in
Experimental Mechanics. 28 September–1 October. Siófok, Hungary.
ME
|
RAILROADS
86
M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4
2401 ME January.indd 86 12/20/23 8:01 AM
