Validation of hybrid SAFE-FE guided wave scattering predictions in rail

Guided waves are well suited for structural interrogation of continuously welded rail track, and are being exploited in a commercial monitoring system. This system relies on a pitch-catch mode of operation to reliably detect complete breaks in the rail. Efforts to extend this system to include a pulse-echo capability (for detecting damage before complete breaks occur) require numerical modelling to predict how propagating waves interact with damage. To this end, an efficient hybrid SAFE-FE numerical method, capable of predicting reflections from arbitrary discontinuities, has previously been implemented. In this paper, we attempt to validate the SAFE-FE method by comparison with both numerical and experimental results. A numerical comparison between the SAFE-FE method and a time domain analysis using the commercial finite element package ABAQUS Explicit is performed for two example problems. The ABAQUS Explicit time domain results are processed so that a comparison of power reflection coefficients is perf...