Project 1.20 Summary:
Assessment and monitoring the performance and health of rail structures is an essential aspect of
prioritizing the repair and replacement, as well as extending service life, of these transportation
infrastructures. Intrusion of fines from the subgrade or surface leads to ballast fouling and
consequently impairs track drainage and adversely affects serviceability [1]. Development and
implementation of novel strategies for the assessment and health monitoring of this
infrastructure, particularly fouling phenomena at its early stage, can significantly extend railbed
service life. New fouling assessment/detection techniques have been investigated, e.g., ground
penetration radar (GPR), thermal imaging techniques, but have several limitations [2, 3]. This
project focuses on using embedded and passive wireless sensing to meet practical needs of
railbed monitoring. Preliminary results by the Co-PI indicate that a passive wireless sensor,
based on a harmonic transponder design, can be embedded within railroad ballast and when
interrogated can produce a measurable signal. At scale, such devices could be produced at very
low cost and thus liberally embedded in ballast. Signatures from these sensors, once interrogated,
can be tracked over time to detect fouling and thus non-destructively assess and monitor the
integrity of the railbed. The proposed work will conduct a series of controlled experiments to
characterize the response of the sensing device when embedded in a ballast stack. The ballast
will be fouled with different levels of coal dust having different levels of moisture. The response
data will be used to develop inverse models to extract railbed fouling from measured device
responses. The outcomes of this project will advance this novel assessment and monitoring
technique for railbed structure and thus extend the service life of these infrastructure assets.
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Ehsan Ghazanfari
Institution:
The University of Vermont
Co-PIs:
Dr. Jeff Frolik
Project Type:
Base-Funded Research
Start Date:
06/01/2022
Project Cost:
$136,655
Project Status:
In Progress
End Date:
05/31/2023
Agency ID:
69A3551847101
Sponsors:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, University Transportation Centers Program, Department of Transportation, The University of Vermont.
Implementation of Research Outcomes:
This project is in its initial research phase. Implementation of Research outcomes will be reported upon completion of initial research.
Impacts and Benefits of Implementation:
This project is in its initial research phase. Impacts and benefits of the research will be reported after the implementation phase.
Related Links:
Coming Soon
Downloadable Documents