Optimization of Ultrasonic Rail-Defect Inspection for Improving Railway Transportation Safety and Efficiency
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 10
Abstract
Broken rails are the most frequent cause of freight-train derailments in the United States. Consequently, reducing their occurrence is a high priority for the rail industry and the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration. Current practice is to periodically inspect rails to detect defects using nondestructive technology such as ultrasonic inspection. Determining the optimal rail inspection frequency is critical to efficient use of infrastructure management resources and maximizing the beneficial impact on safety. Minimization of derailment risk, costs of inspection vehicle operation, rail defect repair, and corresponding train delay are all affected by rail inspection frequency. However, no prior research has incorporated all of these factors into a single integrated framework. The objective of this paper is to develop an analytical model to address the trade-offs among various factors related to rail defect inspection frequency, so as to maximize railroad safety and efficiency. The analysis shows that the optimal inspection frequency will vary with traffic density, rail age, inspection technology reliability, and other factors. The optimization model provides a tool that can be used to aid development of better-informed, more effective infrastructure management and accident prevention policies and practices.
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Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the Association of American Railroads, BNSF Railway, and the National University Rail (NURail) Center, a US DOT RITA University Transportation Center. The authors are grateful to their colleague, Conrad J. Ruppert Jr., and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and constructive comments on a draft manuscript. The authors are solely responsible for the views and analyses presented in this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 10 • October 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 21, 2013
Accepted: Mar 25, 2014
Published online: Jun 20, 2014
Published in print: Oct 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Nov 20, 2014
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