Innovative solution for ultrasonic fabrication test of railroad wheels

The high capacity of modern wheel fabrication plants and high demands on the detection sensitivity for internal defects in railroad wheels along with the need to perform an objective and well documented ultrasonic inspection require the application of automated systems which are integrated into the production line. The paper offers a description of the technology of a fully automated system jointly developed by NDT Systems GmbH and Fraunhofer IZFP, which is able to perform ultrasonic testing of wheel rim, hub and web in the same equipment.