Automated ultrasonic inspection of rails

The article gives an introduction to some important issues of a rail. The rails are an important and vital part of a railway system and are exposed, during service, to high stresses of different types, frequency and orientation and also to different environmental conditions. A brief description of automated ultrasonic inspection of rails is presented: wheel probe – transducers arrangement – instrumentation DIO2000 – software used.

One part describes the ultrasonic testing of rails in operation and examples are given from STARMANS Electronics (Czech Republic) and NDT do Brazil (Brazil). The principle test is carried out with wheel probes equipped with transducers having a frequency of 4 or 5 MHz. The system operates in immersion technique using 24 transducers.

A special carriage was constructed. In the car, 24 pulse-echo ultrasonic channels are used, together with 70 degree and 45 degree angle probes and normal head distributed on both rails. A speed up to 50 km/h is now available.

Safety requires ultrasonic testing and monitoring of rails in service. Knowledge of ultrasonic testing techniques is an important issue for carry out a qualitative test result. The successful detection of flaws ultrasonically has been established.