Testing the Node of a Railway Steel Bridge Using an Acoustic Emission Method

Research on bridge construction elements was conducted as part of a joint project by the Cracow University of Technology and PKP Polish Railway Lines, funded by the NCBiR. In the first phase, the material properties were defined, and modeling calculations for the bridge and node were performed. In the next phase, the node was loaded using a scheme corresponding to the real loading conditions of this part of the bridge. Tests were performed on the prepared test stand with the registration of acoustic emission signals. The recorded measurement data were analyzed to determine the signal characteristics, the signal parameters used for assessing defects, and the most effective system for locating signals.