Laser-Based Non-destructive Spike Defect Inspection System

Spikes, together with tie plates and timber ties, are the dominant track components in North American freight railroads. Recent inspections have identified frequent broken spikes in certain tracks.

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 44: Laser-Based Non-destructive Spike Defect Inspection System aims to develop a low-cost, non-destructive and contact-free intelligent inspection system, that is field-deployable on a geometry car, high-rail vehicle, or other type of track inspection platform to identify broken spikes in real-time.