DEFECT EVALUATION IN RAILWAY WHEELSETS

  • Kwon, Seok-Jin (Railway System Research Dept. Korea Railroad Research Institute) ;
  • Lee, Dong-Hyong (Railway System Research Dept. Korea Railroad Research Institute) ;
  • Seo, Jung-Won (Railway System Research Dept. Korea Railroad Research Institute) ;
  • You, Won-Hee (Railway System Research Dept. Korea Railroad Research Institute)
  • Published : 2007.11.08

Abstract

The wheelsets are one of most important component: damages in wheel tread and press fitted axle are a significant cost for railway industry. Since failure in railway wheelset can cause a disaster, regular inspection of defects in wheels and axles are mandatory. Ultrasonic testing, acoustic emission and eddy current testing method and so on regularly check railway wheelset in service. However, it is difficult to use this method because of its high viscosity and because its sensitivity is affected by temperature. Also, due to noise echoes it is difficult to detect defects initiation clearly with ultrasonic testing. It is necessary to develop a non-destructive technique that is superior to conventional NDT techniques in order to ensure the safety of railway wheelset. In the present paper, the new NDT technique is applied to the detection of surface defects for railway wheelset. To detect the defects for railway wheelset, the sensor for defect detection is optimized and the tests are carried out with respect to surface and internal defects each other. The results show that the surface crack depth of 1.5 mm in press fitted axle and internal crack in wheel could be detected by using the new method. The ICFPD method is useful to detect the defect that initiated in the tread of railway wheelset.

Keywords