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Hollow axle inspection can be performed without demounting the axles and without dismantling the wheels and the brake discs by using the drilling for the scan. To increase inspection reliability and inspection speed, the application of phased array systems instead of conventional probes is a good choice. For solid shaft inspection phased array setups became standard in the recent years. Nevertheless, for hollow axle inspection typically a number of conventional probes rotating through the axles drilling are applied.
The new approach uses an electronically steered rotating sound field from a phased array for the circumferential scan. This is realized by a cone shaped phased array which operates in immersion technique. That allows a significant increase in inspection speed and a reduction of the mechanical effort of the inspection system. The inspection can be carried out by a linear movement of the probe setup along the axles drilling. Applying additional focal laws allows exact inclination and focusing of the sound beam in the plane vertical to the specimen axis to concentrate the sound in the zones close to the external surface. An additional focus in the plane of incidence increases overall resolution and sensitivity.
The cone type phased array probe has been optimized to detect transversal flaws in and close to the outer surface of the hollow axle with orientation in the radial-radial plane. The prototype probe system, sound field simulations and measurement results are presented.
Phased-Array-Technik und Bildgebung mit Ultraschallwellen sind nach langer Entwicklungszeit inzwischen auf dem Weg zu allgemeiner Verbreitung. Daher bietet sich an, die verschiedenen Techniken und deren Begriffe wie z.B. Phased-Array, SAFT, TFM, FMC und Sparse-Array zusammenfassend in Beziehung zu setzen.
All diesen Techniken liegt dieselbe Idee zu Grunde, nämlich durch gezielte Überlagerung von Ultraschallsignalen den gewünschten Effekt zu erreichen. Die verschiedenen Techniken werden kurz charakterisiert und neben den Unterschieden wird beschreiben, auf welche Weise bei all diesen Techniken das Phänomen der konstruktiven Interferenz jeweils genutzt wird.
For more than 60 years ultrasonic rail inspection is used as non-destructive testing method to ensure the safe operation of rail tracks. Constantly increasing traffic density and heavy loads have been the motor for the development of new test equipment from handheld devices to rail inspection trains. (Krull 2003)Up to the present most of the system solutions feature conventional ultrasonic transducers housed in wheel-type and slide-type probes. Different tasks have to be carried out during an in-service inspection for flaws in the rail head, rail web and rail foot as well as rolling contact fatigue (Heckel 2018). The more tasks the inspection system has to perform, the more probes are needed. Compared against standard ultrasonic testing methods the application of array probes offers advantages and flexibility by the electronic steering possibilities to control the transmitted and received sound fields. This allows to increase functionality by software while decreasing the number of probes needed in hardware in parallel. One drawback in application of phased array probes is that the repetition frequency of the subsequent measurements will be reduced by the number of virtual probe functions each phased array probe has to perform. This may limit the range of use for phased array probes in high speed applications. To overcome these limits special designs for array probes and signal processing are necessary.
Kegel-Phased-Array für die schnelle Ultraschallprüfung von längsgebohrten Eisenbahnradsatzwellen
(2018)
Durch die Verwendung von Ultraschall - Phased Arrays lässt sich in vielen Fällen sowohl die Prüfgeschwindigkeit als auch die Zuverlässigkeit der Prüfung erhöhen. Für die Prüfung von Eisenbahnradsatzwellen ist die Phased Arraytechnik schon verbreitet, jedoch vor allem für die Prüfung von Vollwellen. Die Prüfung von längsgebohrten Eisenbahnrad¬satzwellen erfolgt typischerweise mit einer Anzahl von konventionellen Prüfköpfen, die rotierend durch die Längsbohrung bewegt werden. Dabei werden weder die Achsen und Räder noch die Bremsscheiben demontiert.
Ein neuer Ansatz für die Prüftechnik ist die Verwendung eines rotations-symmetrischen kegelförmigen Phased Arrays in Tauchtechnik. Die Abtastung in Umfangs-richtung erfolgt durch elektronische Rotation des Schallfeldes, was viel höhere Prüfge-schwindigkeiten ermöglicht und den mechanischen Aufwand des Prüfsystems erheblich reduziert. Nur die Bewegung des Sensorsystems in axialer Richtung innerhalb der Bohrung erfolgt mechanisch. Senkrecht zur Bauteilachse kann das Schallbündel durch die Phased Arraysteuerung in Umfangsrichtung exakt ausgerichtet und im Abstand der Prüfbereiche nahe der Außenoberfläche der Radsatzwelle fokussiert werden.
Die Konstruktionsparameter des Kegelarrays wurden speziell optimiert zum Auffinden von rissartigen Querfehlern in und in der Nähe der äußeren Oberfläche von längsgebohrten Eisenbahnradsatzwellen von Hochgeschwindigkeitszügen. Die Fehlerfläche liegt dabei in der Querschnittsfläche des Bauteils. Im Beitrag werden der Prototyp des neuen Sensorsystems und erste Prüfergebnisse gezeigt. Die Arbeiten wurden durchgeführt im Rahmen des Europäischen Projektes “Whole Life Rail Axle Assessment and Improvement Using Ultrasonic Phased array and Corrosion Inspection Systems“ (RAAI).
Matrix phased array probes are becoming more prominently used in industrial applications. The main drawbacks, using probes incorporating a very large number of transducer elements, are needed for an appropriate cabling and an ultrasonic device offering many parallel channels. Matrix arrays designed for extended functionality feature at least 64 or more elements. Typical arrangements are square matrices, e.g., 8 by 8 or 11 by 11 or rectangular matrixes, e.g., 8 by 16 or 10 by 12 to fit a 128-channel phased array system. In some phased array systems, the number of simultaneous active elements is limited to a certain number, e.g., 32 or 64. Those setups do not allow running the probe with all elements active, which may cause a significant change in the directivity pattern of the resulting sound beam. When only a subset of elements can be used during a single acquisition, different strategies may be applied to collect enough data for rebuilding the missing information from the echo signal. Omission of certain elements may be one approach, overlay of subsequent shots with different active areas may be another one. This paper presents the influence of a decreased number of active elements on the sound field and their distribution on the array. Solutions using subsets with different element activity patterns on matrix arrays and their advantages and disadvantages concerning the sound field are evaluated using semi-analytical simulation tools. Sound field criteria are discussed, which are significant for non-destructive testing results and for the system setup.
To increase inspection speed and inspection reliability the use of phased array system is a superior solution. Especially for shaft inspection phased array setups are commonly used. For hollow axle inspection typically a number conventional probes rotating through the axles drilling are applied, without demounting the axes and without dismantling the wheels and the brake discs.
A new approach using a cone type array operated in immersion technique will allows to increase inspection speed and reduce the mechanical effort of the inspection system by rotating the sound field for the circumferential scan electronically. Only a linear movement of the probe is necessary to move the phased array cone forward and backwards inside the drilling. By applying additional focal laws the beam can be inclined exactly and be focused in the plane vertical to the specimen axis to concentrate the sound in the zones close to the external surface of the railway axle.
The cone type phased array probe has been optimized to detect transversal flaws in and close to the outer surface of the hollow axle, whose surface lies in the radial-radial plane.
The prototype probe system and its performance will be presented.
Matrix phased array probes become more and more prominent to be used in industrial applications. The main drawbacks, using probes incorporating a very large number of transducer elements, are the needs for an appropriate cabling and an ultrasonic device offering many parallel channels.
Matrix arrays designed for extended functionality feature at least 64 or more elements. Typical arrangements are square matrices, e.g. 10 by 10 or 11 by 11 or rectangular matrices, e.g. 8 by 16 or 10 by 12 to fit a 128-channel phased array system. In some phased array systems, the number of simultaneous active elements is limited to a certain number, e.g. 32 or 64. Those setups do not allow to run the probe with all elements active which may cause a significant change in the directivity pattern of the resulting sound beam.
When only a subset of elements is possible to use during a single acquisition, different strategies may be applied to collect enough data for rebuilding the missing information from the echo signal. Omission of certain elements may be one approach, overlay of subsequent shots with different active areas may be another one.
This paper presents the influence of decreased number of active elements on the sound field and their distribution on the array. An example for 16 active elements out of 121 is given in Figure 1. The sound field divergence and its shape basically remain the same, while the sensitivity is reduced and the amplitudes of the speckle-like side lobes increase significantly.
Solutions using subsets with different element activity patterns on matrix arrays and their advantages and disadvantages concerning the sound field are evaluated using semi-analytic simulation tools. Sound field criteria regarding the consequences for NDT test results and the system setup are discussed.
Im Rahmen des Europäischen Projektes RAAI* wird speziell für längsgebohrte Eisenbahnradsatzwellen von Hochgeschwindigkeitszügen eine Phased Array Technik angepasst, mit dem Ziel einer nahezu 100%igen Rissprüfung (Tiefe 2-3 mm) ohne die Demontage der Wellen und einer Prüfzeitreduzierung von 75%.
Die Technik arbeitet mit einem Phased Array, bei dem die Schwingerelemente auf einem Kegelstumpf angeordnet sind. Für die Abtastung in Umfangsrichtung erlaubt das Phased Array die schnelle Rotation und zusätzlich das Fokussieren und Schwenken des Schallbündels. In Richtung der Achse wird das Prüfkopfsystem mechanisch bewegt.
In vorangegangenen Projekten ist das Prinzip dieser Prüftechnik entwickelt und die Tauglichkeit gezeigt worden. Die jetzigen Arbeiten haben insbesondere die Optimierung der Sensortechnik an die o.g. Aufgabe zum Ziel. Wegen der ungewöhnlichen Geometrie des Arrays sind umfangreiche Simulationsrechnungen nötig, um die Auswirkung von zahlreichen Parametern auf die Schallfeldform und letztlich auf die Empfindlichkeit und die Ortsauflösung zu untersuchen und die Konstruktionsdaten zu bestimmen.
Zur Validierung der Prüftechnik werden Tests an typischen Eisenbahnradsatz-wellen durchgeführt. Der Einsatz von unterstützenden Signalverarbeitungsalgorith-men bei der Auswertung der Prüfergebnisse zur sichereren Fehlererkennung ist u.a. wegen des möglichen geringen Messpunktabstandes für diese Prüftechnik besonders vielversprechend. Der Stand der Entwicklung wird gezeigt.
In the last two decades automated ultrasonic inspection devices took over a lot of applications that prior have been carried out using manual inspection with the evaluation of A-scans only. In parallel phased array systems have been developed and brought to the market which offer detailed and fast control over the sound field. When applying automated inspection phased array systems for UT measurements imaging of the recorded data in combination with the probe positioning data is used for the evaluation of inspections. B-Scan, C-Scan and S-Scan images are typically used with this setup.
For more sophisticated applications with linear arrays echo tomography and syntethic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) are well known methods and often applied for high resolution image reconstruction. Since channel count of phased array systems is constantly rising, matrix arrays with up to 256 elements entered the market. Signal processing in the matrix domain became 3D. Since some years the Total Focusing Method (TFM) is an additional imaging tool for these type of application. It is based on the Full Matrix Capture (FMC) using the elements of phased array probes as separate transmitters and receivers.
In this contribution we discuss the common ground of SAFT and TFM as well as the differences between these imaging tools. The combined use of automated inspection, matrix arrays and signal processing for high resolution measurements is a challenging task where a very long parameter list has to be taken into account. Under which conditions which elements of the full matrix should be taken for the reconstruction for best results?
Based on examples taken from measured and simulated echo signals it will be shown how image resolution can be optimized in dependence of different parameters like the distance between transmitters and receivers and their directivity patterns, the depth of echo source and the specimen geometry.
The Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) is an algorithm applied in non-destructive ultrasonic testing which provides an image of flaws within a specimen. The image is reconstructed from A-scans measured at different positions. Reliable evaluation of the images obtained by the SAFT-algorithm, however, depends on the representation of the reconstructed data, which is initially given in terms of positive and negative local values only. A suitable way of processing this data for evaluation is to calculate the envelope, which can be achieved by means of the analytic signal. The extension of this concept to the multidimensional case is neither trivial nor unique and although extensive work on this subject has been carried out in the past, a correct envelope calculation in multidimensional data remains difficult since it depends on an additional condition, namely the separability of the signal. In this paper, the concept of analytic signals with single-quadrant spectra is applied to process 2-dimensional data obtained by the SAFT-algorithm. Furthermore, we present a procedure to overcome the limitations of that approach by selecting local magnitude values from a number of rotated frames after evaluating the signals separability in each frame, which is briefly validated against synthetic and experimental data.