摘要 |
The invention relates to a system for monitoring the condition of elongate structural elements and more particularly but not exclusively, to a system for monitoring and detecting cracks and breaks in railway rails. The invention furthermore extends to the methodology of designing and developing such a system. The method includes the steps of identifying modes of propagation and signal frequencies that can be expected to travel large distances through an elongate structural element; selecting a suitable mode of propagation and frequency of operation; designing a transducer that is adapted to excite the selected mode at the selected frequency; numerically modelling the transducer as attached to the elongate structural element; and analyzing a harmonic response of the selected mode of propagation to excitation by the transducer in order to validate the transducer design. |