Simona Fontul

GPR Laboratory Tests For Railways Materials Dielectric Properties Assessment

In railways Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) studies, the evaluation of materials dielectric properties is critical as they are sensitive to water content, to petrographic type of aggregates and to fouling condition of the ballast. Under the load traffic, maintenance actions and climatic effects, ballast condition change due to aggregate breakdown and to subgrade soils pumping, mainly on existing lines with no sub ballast layer. The main purpose of this study was to validate, under controlled conditions, the dielectric values of materials used in Portuguese railways, in order to improve the GPR interpretation using commercial software and consequently the management maintenance planning. Different materials were tested and a broad range of in situ conditions were simulated in laboratory, in physical models. GPR tests were performed with five antennas with frequencies between 400 and 1800 MHz. The variation of the dielectric properties was measured, and the range of values that can be obtained for different material condition was defined. Additionally, in situ GPR measurements and test pits were performed for validation of the dielectric constant of clean ballast. The results obtained are analyzed and the main conclusions are presented herein.

Evaluation of ballast fouling using GPR

In order to evaluate the level of ballast fouling for Portugal aggregates and the influence of antenna frequency on its measurement several laboratory tests were performed on different materials. Initially the clean granitic ballast was tested in different water content conditions, from dry to soak in order to see the influence of water on the dielectric characteristics. The fouling of the ballast was reproduced in laboratory through mixing the ballast with soil, mainly fine particles, in order to simulate the fouling existing in several old lines in Portugal, where the ballast was placed over the soil without any sub ballast layer. Five different fouling levels were reproduced and tested in laboratory, with different water contents, four for each fouling level. Tests were performed with five Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) antennas with different frequencies, three ground coupled antennas of 400 MHz, 500 MHz and 900 MHz, and two horn antennas of 1000 MHz and 1800 MHz. In situ test pits were than used to validate the values of the dielectric constants obtained in laboratory. The main results obtained are presented in this paper together with troubleshooting associated to measurement on fouling ballast. This study is of interest for COST Action TU 1208.

Railway Track Condition Assessment at Network Level by Frequency Domain Analysis of GPR Data

The railway track system is a crucial infrastructure for the transportation of people and goods in modern societies. With the increase in railway traffic, the availability of the track for monitoring and maintenance purposes is becoming significantly reduced. Therefore, continuous non-destructive monitoring tools for track diagnoses take on even greater importance. In this context, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technique results yield valuable information on track condition, mainly in the identification of the degradation of its physical and mechanical characteristics caused by subsurface malfunctions. Nevertheless, the application of GPR to assess the ballast condition is a challenging task because the material electromagnetic properties are sensitive to both the ballast grading and water content. This work presents a novel approach, fast and practical for surveying and analysing long sections of transport infrastructure, based mainly on expedite frequency domain analysis of the GPR signal. Examples are presented with the identification of track events, ballast interventions and potential locations of malfunctions. The approach, developed to identify changes in the track infrastructure, allows for a user-friendly visualisation of the track condition, even for GPR non-professionals such as railways engineers, and may further be used to correlate with track geometric parameters. It aims to automatically detect sudden variations in the GPR signals, obtained with successive surveys over long stretches of railway lines, thus providing valuable information in asset management activities of infrastructure managers.