Determination of the Compressive Stress of a Rail Using the Effect of Acoustoelasticity and Strain Gauge

Abstract

A method for monitoring the compression stress in a rail and a sample made of steel 20 using the effect of acoustoelasticity and strain gauge has been developed. Wire load cells were pasted to the opposite sides of the rail and the sample. Measurements, recording and processing of strain gauge information was carried out by a certified microprocessor strain gauge system MMTS-64.01 with accuracy class 0.2. To control the compression stress, the developed microprocessor-based ultrasonic system “Akusto-1” was used, which operates on the basis of the acoustoelasticity effect. The angle of input of ultrasonic vibrations, equal to 18°. This allowed to excite longitudinal, transverse and transformed waves in the object. Compressive stresses in the rail and steel sample were carried out by 250-ton loading machine “PSY-250”. Longitudinal and transformed ultrasonic waves were used to control compressive stresses. A comparative analysis of the experimental and calculated dependences of compressive stresses on the load obtained by acoustic, tensometric and computational methods is performed. The reliability of the experimental and calculated results was controlled by a certified microprocessor strain gauge system MMTS-64.01.