Conceptual Design of a Monitoring System for Maglev Guideways

The state-of-the-art in nondestructive testing (NDT) technology has advanced significantly over the past 15 years and has reached a stage where continuous monitoring of structures can be successfully achieved. The need for the adoption of advanced NDT technology for Maglev is absolutely essential because of the Maglev system safety and performance considerations and high cost of construction. In this paper, several monitoring methods such as Acoustic Emission, Ultrasonics, Ground Penetrating Radar, Infrared Thermography, and Fiber Optic Sensors have been evaluated in terms of their possible use in a Maglev system. Also, monitoring of guideway alignment and detection of debris on the guideway using Lasers and Fiber Optics have been investigated.