[4B2] Overview of NDT array techniques applied to inspection of rolling stock
G Corti¹, S Caspary², E Peng³, C Spörri⁴ and F Vicat⁵
¹Evident Europe GmbH – UK Branch
²Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing, Germany
³DTEC GmbH, Germany
⁴Controltech AG, Switzerland
⁵Evident Canada Inc, Canada
Presented by C Lane, Evident Europe GmbH – UK Branch
Policies in the current international contexts of health, climate change and energy are leading to a higher priority being given to rail transportation of goods and people. Governments across Europe are investing in the expansion of railway infrastructure to maintain rail cars, tracks and related critical components. In this context, inspection providers in the rail industry are looking into more efficient, reliable and faster inspection methods to ensure operational safety and reduce downtime.
Wheelset components such as axles and wheels are critical parts that are continuously exposed to stress during normal operation. While conventional ultrasonic testing (UT) and eddy current (EC) testing techniques are still providing consistent and adequate results to properly screen rolling stock material, new technologies using non-destructive testing (NDT) array techniques can improve the repeatability, detectability and traceability of results.
The versatility of these techniques, which are sometimes combined with conventional solutions, helps ensure optimised inspection procedures. This reduces instrumentation costs and operational downtime while increasing the probability of detection.
The aim of this paper is to describe solutions Evident and its business partners can provide for the inspection of rolling stock: from manual to fully automatic systems suitable to inspect wheels and axles either during the manufacturing process or during the whole life of the component.
Policies in the current international contexts of health, climate change and energy are leading to a higher priority being given to rail transportation of goods and people. Governments across Europe are investing in the expansion of railway infrastructure to maintain rail cars, tracks and related critical components. In this context, inspection providers in the rail industry are looking into more efficient, reliable and faster inspection methods to ensure operational safety and reduce downtime.
Wheelset components such as axles and wheels are critical parts that are continuously exposed to stress during normal operation. While conventional ultrasonic testing (UT) and eddy current (EC) testing techniques are still providing consistent and adequate results to properly screen rolling stock material, new technologies using non-destructive testing (NDT) array techniques can improve the repeatability, detectability and traceability of results.
The versatility of these techniques, which are sometimes combined with conventional solutions, helps ensure optimised inspection procedures. This reduces instrumentation costs and operational downtime while increasing the probability of detection.
The aim of this paper is to describe solutions Evident and its business partners can provide for the inspection of rolling stock: from manual to fully automatic systems suitable to inspect wheels and axles either during the manufacturing process or during the whole life of the component.
