Feasibility Study of Radiographic Rail Inspections Using a Compact X-ray Tube

Abstract X-ray radiography is widely applied in the inspection of welded joints. It provides a unique opportunity to visualize and detect damage inside the tested object. The use of radiography in the inspection of railway tracks would be extremely useful. The challenge for this technique is the ability to replace the isotope source (e.g. Ir-192) and the ability to use a compact X-ray source while maintaining imaging quality. This paper presents a feasibility study for the application of a compact X-ray tube for radiographic rail inspections. In this work, the geometry of a compact radiography system was optimized and the X-ray tube parameter threshold values were determined to meet the demanding imaging requirements.