WORK PACKAGES

The  RAILECT  project  is  industry driven and  TWI  is leading the project because of its experience, both
technically and in project management. The  consortium  has  the  responsibility  for the success of the
project and has therefore organised the work activities into a number of discrete Work Packages. The
project is divided into a data acquisition and design phase  (WPs1-4) and the  implementation phase
(WPs5-8). Each work package (WP) will  be led  by the listed  partner,  and TWI  is responsible to
maintain an overview and to ensure that the WP administration and the milestones are achieved.

WP1. Review, System specification & Sample acquisition - lead by TBD
A review and system specification will  be produced  to guide the overall work packages. At
the  same time  test samples  will be procured  /  manufactured  for testing the ultrasonic
system and determining the acceptance criteria.

WP2. Determine acceptance criteria - lead by TWI
The acceptance  criteria will  be generated  by the  Engineering Critical Assessment
(ECA) and fatigue testing  for different defects and locations in the weld. This will
create a new database of acceptable  defects within alumino-thermic rail welds.

WP3. Ultrasonic Modelling - lead by Vermon
Design of the ultrasonic system will  require measurement  of the ultrasonic
properties of the weld, and  incorporating the measurements  into models
that will determine the beam behaviour and its interaction with defects in
such welds. Furthermore the  complex theoretical  analysis of the beam will
enable  discrimination  between  reflected  signals  from  the  weld  itself and
volumetric defects. This will represent a significant advance  in the theoretical
understanding of ultrasonics in this weld  material and  therefore will improve the
equipment design methodology.

WP4. Ultrasonic System Design - lead by TWI
The prototype  will  be designed  using  information  from WP3 to  produce a  complete
design specification for the system. The first part of this process will be to establish the
optimum position of the probes, the parts of the system and phased array laws.

WP5. System Manufacture - lead by Optel
A  supporting  instrumentation,  "hybrid  of phased  array and  complex interrogation patterns",
such as: tandem  pitch-catch probes  and highly focused beams  operating in  sequence  will be
developed. The system will produce signals that will be interpreted with algorithms to give an
automatic assessment of defect size.

WP6. Software & System Integration - lead by KCC
Control and analysis software and output display will be written, and will be integrated with the hardware.
It  will  first  be  compare with  the data  from WP2  and WP3  to establish  the relationship  between  the
ultrasonic  images  and the defect size. Finally it will compare the data with the multiple acceptance criteria.

WP7. Laboratory & Field Trials - lead by Spree
The equipment produced from WP4  will  be tested  and the  performance  checked. This will be done against the
samples produced in WP1 together with some  new samples Finally  the equipment  will be  taken on  site to  initial
field trials.

WP8. Exploitation, Dissemination & Training - lead by Optel
The  dissemination  will  be  managed  through  WP8  and  will  focus  on dissemination across other industry sectors and
developing  supply  chains.  Traditional  routes such  as publications,  conferences, and  workshops will  be  used,  for the
material generated in the project deemed suitable for wider dissemination. A  pilot training course will also be developed and
given to staff of Spree for the purpose of implementing the equipment on site.

WP9.Project & Coordination Management - lead by TWI
The overall project will be monitored and controlled in a management task in WP9 to ensure deliverables and reports are produced in time and within budget.