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- NDT (2)
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- Crack analysis/sizing (1)
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Currently at Deutsche Bahn (DB) ultrasonic inspections in maintenance procedures for wheelset axles with a bore hole are, to the greatest possible extent, carried out using automated ultrasonic inspection system. Although the acceptance levels are in accordance with DIN 27201 part 7, the testing results have shown in recent years that in the case of true indications, the effective defect sizes were far below the level of acceptance. Due to this experience it can be assumed that the automated ultrasonic inspection systems are testing substantially more sensitively than required. This increased sensitivity leads to an increase in false indications, generally resulting in the unnecessary demounting of wheelsets. In Research cooperation between Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and DB the effective flaw detection sensitivity of existing automated ultrasonic inspection system will be determined and the true/false indication ratio optimised. Through systematic investigations with the Probability of Detection method on the existing automated ultrasonic inspection system the results could be directly applied to the optimisation of existing ultrasonic inspections of wheelset axles with a bore hole in maintenance procedures and the level of reliability can be considerably increased.
Using a rail-inspection train, the Deutsche Bahn's system of railroads is continuously checked for traffic-induced defects. Until now, only ultrasonic inspection was used. In addition, eddy-current inspection could successfully and efficiently be used to detect and evaluate certain surface cracks - so-called head checks. There have already been reports about laboratory tests which proved the general suitability of this test method [1,2]. The next step - described here - consisted of practical trials under real-life conditions. A test system which is able to fulfil the strict requirements (test speeds of up to 100 km/h, complex probe guidance, suppression of electrical and mechanical interference, recording of data, filtering and evaluation of data) was developed. As part of the rail-inspection train and as a manual system, this inspection system was successfully tested on the Deutsche Bahn's system of railroads under real-life conditions.
Introduction
Due to the long history of railroad companies around the world, varying means of examination according to the specifications for the different railroad components have been carried out based on the general industrial progress of the country [1-3]. For more than 50 years the application of customized ultrasonic techniques for the examination of railroad components has increased, in comparison to conventional ultrasonic techniques used until to the end of 20th century. In this traditional atmosphere some accidents have disturbed the silent harmony of companies involved in the production of critical parts. More than ever high speed modern trains require modern and advanced examination techniques [4-8]. For practical application new ultrasonic techniques have been developed and optimized in co-operation with the German Railroad Company. In the present contribution the inspection of railroad axles will be described. The ultrasonic technique used for the examination is the phased array technique. The optimization of the phased array probes for the different geometries of the axles given was completed using a computer model for directivity calculations. In relation to the limited accessibility between wheel and brake angles of incidence for shear waves in the range between 28° and 72° are necessary.
During the examination of the axles a a considerable amount of ultrasonic data must be stored (storage of the digitized A-scans). However, due to economic aspects the evaluation of this data should be carried out in a very short time. The whole examination of one axle should not exceed 5 minutes. Therefore we have developed a special evaluation program adapted to the particular problematic of the axle inspection. The build up of the whole inspection system was done with partners from the industry like Krautkramer and a division of the Research Department of the Deutsche Bahn AG. In this consortium the Research Department of the Deutsche Bahn AG was responsible for the specification of the inspection problem, Krautkramer for the organization of the whole technical follow up and BAM for the development and optimization of the ultrasonic inspection technique as well as for the evaluation software. Some examples concerning the optimization process will be described in the present contribution.