OKO High-Speed Roadbed Georadar System

The basis of railway track safety is, first and foremost, the reliability of its roadbed. In the course of long-term operations, the roadbed suffers intense impact from traffic load. Combined with effects of quite a few man-made, environmental/climatic, and geological factors, this entails emergence of roadbed deformation, which endangers railway traffic safety. 

Timely detection of such deformations may be ensured by an efficient monitoring technique like ground radar. The information acquired by this method makes it possible to reveal processes endangering the roadbed at their very beginning, and the necessary measures for roadbed stabilisation to be taken in timely manner.

The operating principle of the multi-channel georadar system (MGS) is based on emission of electromagnetic pulses and detection of the signals reflected from confining layers due to the various properties of the soil inspected.

Such a confining layer in the soil may be, for example, the one between dry and waterlogged soils, ground water, contacts between rocks of different lithologic composition, between the rock and an artificial material, between frozen and thawed soils, between bed-rock and sediment areas, etc.

The outstanding feature of the multichannel georadar system (MGS) is its compactness and mobility. Due to this, it may be built-in into any mobile or manual diagnostic device. The employment of this system facilitates high-speed roadbed and ballast diagnostics, which yield detailed information on their consistency.

At high speed, MGS determines the thickness and the lithologic structure of the ballast, ballast aggregate, ballast pollution and high humidity areas. Meanwhile, MGS detects in the ballast layer foreign objects such as large stones, cables, buried permanent way components, etc.

At the same time, the system detects the location of the roadbed soil upper level and its lithologic structure, and it locates in the roadbed weakened areas having reduced density and increased humidity. In addition, MGS locates areas hosting engineering facilities and detects areas with laid geotextile and styrene foam shields.

These measurements yield highly reliable continuous information on the medium being probed, a so-called georadar profile, or a radarogram. Its analysis assists the operatör to make proper decisions on neutralising

processes harmful for the roadbed and to schedule the respective repair actions.

Toprakta böyle bir sınırlandırma tabakası olabilir, örneğin, yatak kaya arasındaki kuru ve su dolu toprak, zemin suyu, farklı kaya türü terkibinin kayalar arasındaki temasları, kaya ve yapay malzeme arasın, donmuş ve çözülmüş toprakların arasında sediment alanları, vb.

Çok kanallı yer radarı sisteminin (MGS) üstün özelliği kompakt ve hareketli olmasıdır. Bu nedenle herhangi bir mobil veya manuel test sistemine monte edilebilir. Bu yüksek hızda, MGS kalınlığını belirleyebilir.

Technical characteristics of AB-400R antenna unit 

Parameter

Parameter value

Central frequency*, MHz

400

Operation with separation up to, m

0.5

Maximum beam depth, m

3.0

Resolution, m

0.1

Overall dimensions, mm

700x550x320

Mass, kg

9.0

Power consumption, W

6.0

Unit type

horn, shielded

 Technical characteristics of AB-1700R antenna unit

Parameter

Parameter value

Central frequency*, MHz

1700

Operation with separation up to, m

0.5

Maximum beam depth, m

0.8

Resolution, m

0.03

Overall dimensions, mm

205x165x135

Mass, kg

0.8

Power consumption, W

3.5

Unit type

horn, shielded