Innovative solution for ultrasonic fabrication test of railroad wheels

The high capacity of modern wheel fabrication plants and high demands on the detection sensitivityfor internal defects in railroad wheels along with the need to perform an objective and well documented ultrasonicinspection 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 SystemsGmbH and Fraunhofer IZFP, which is able to perform ultrasonic testing of wheel rim, hub and web inthe same equipment.