Investigating the Dispersion Characteristics of Symmetric and Asymmetric Modes in Rails: A Theoretical and Experimental Study

The propagation law of ultrasonic guided waves in waveguide structures is determined by their dispersion characteristics, and the number of guided waves in symmetric and antisymmetric modes in rails is significant, so the dispersion characteristics are very complex. In order to study the dispersion characteristics of symmetric and antisymmetric modes in rails, this paper derives the wave equation based on the SAFE method with higher order elements, and the correctness of the wavestructure calculation in the SAFE model is verified using the FE method. This paper focuses on the wavestructure state at 0 kHz and the wavestructure changes during mode crossing through and repulsive deflections, and for the first time experimentally verifies the phenomenon of wave structure exchange in rails. The main conclusions are that the dispersion curves between modes with the same symmetry show repulsive deflection, and the dispersion curves between modes with opposite symmetry show crossover; the wavestructure of the rail is mainly rigid body translation and rigid body rotation at frequencies close to 0 kHz; the guided wave at the intersection of symmetric and antisymmetric modes transforms into a fading wave that cannot be continuously propagated in rails; when the dispersion curves are close, the wavestructures between the two modes are linearly superimposed, and when the dispersion curves are deflected by repulsion, the wavestructures of the two modes are exchanged.