In-situ nondestructive testing of track rails by the SNCF (In French)

ND T Abstracts made of vacuum melted steels by apphcauon of the method of ultrasonic attenuataon, companng the effect of the passage of ultrasomc waves wtth that found in previously used steels melted conventionally m open-hearth furnaces The analysts proved that the effecuve grain size may be designated by ultrasomc techmques independent of both the mJcrostructure and mehmg method, t e vacuum melting or commercial steelmakmg 49497 Jo, J , Hendrtcks, R W . Swanson, R E , Foutz, R V R e s i d u a l s t r e s s e s in r a t l r o a d c a r w h e e l s A d v a n c e s m X-ray Analys~s. Vol 34 Edtted by C S_ Barrett. J V Gdf rtch, I,C Noyan, T.C Huang. and P K Predeckt_ pp 611-622_ P l e n u m Press (1991) A new fa.tlure cntenon for dtscnmmatmg good and bad (overheated) railroad car wheels =s proposed using X-ray restdual stress data. The procedure for the new dlscnmmauon cntenon ~s based on the fluctuauons of the aztmuthal res=dual stress m the tread of the wheel Th=s cntenon is based on a maximum hkehhood stat,st~cal analysts of stress data obtained from six different wheels as determ,ned by X-ray dlffracuon Of these locauons the analysts showed the tread, and perhaps a cnt,cal pomt on the top of the flange, to he the most sensmve to restdual stress The variance analysts showed that fluctuauons In stress at the most sensmve location m the tread to be related to the servtce htstory The restdual stresses showed an oscillatory pattern in the hoop d=rechon around the wheels

Schrarnm. R E , Clark, A V , Mltrakovtc, D V , Schaps, S R , M6Gutre, T J Residual s t r e s s d e t e c t i o n in r a d r o a d w h e e l s , a n u l t r a s o n i c system using E M A T s . R e p o r t No. 23 4945 5

Nattonal Inst of Standards and T e c h n o l o g y ( M S E L ) , Boulder. C o l o r a d o ( U n i t e d States), P B 9 1 - 2 2 2 6 5 3 / G A R , 47 pp ( M a y 1991 ) The repOrt covers a project by the Matermls Rellabthty Dtvlslon (formerly the Fracture and Deformation Division) to develop and budd a system to detect and measure res=dual stress m the rams of railroad wheels Acoustic btrefnngence ts the underlymg pnnctple of operation Thts ts a measure of the relative difference m the propagation times of two shear waves polarized in radtal and circumferent=al dtrect=ons Measurements employ an EMAT (electro- magneuc-acousttc transducer) as an ultrasonic probe The system operates tn a pulse-echo mode A shon burst of shear honzontal waves travels through the nm thickness The rotauon of the EMAT determines the onentatton of the polanzauon vector radial or ctrcumferenttal_ Precise ummg of echoes in both dtrecuons reveals the degree of btrefnngence Changes are due to both stress state and metallurgical texture Imttal tests mdtcate ]t may be posstble to separate these two

Schramm, R E , Clark, A.V , Mltrakovzc, D V , Cohen. Y, Schull, P_J_ Tread crack detection m railroad wheels: an ultrasonic system using EMATs. Report No. 22

49454

Nattonal Inst of Standards and T e c h n o l o g y ( M S E L ) , Boulder, C o l o r a d o ( U n i t e d States), P B 9 1 - 2 2 2 6 6 1 / G A R , 69 pp. ( M a y 1991) The report covers a project by the Materials Rehabthty Dtvision (formerly the Fracture and Deformauon D=vJsion) to develop and braid an ultrasomc system to deuect crack.type flaws m the tread of ra,lroad wheels To achteve fully automauc operation, the sensor ts budt into the rail so testing occurs as the train rolls past. Stgnal analysts takes place =n real time The ultrasontc probe ts an EMAT (electromagneuc-acousuc transducer) As configured here. the EMAT has a small footpnn[, and. due to tts pnnctple of operatmn, tt does not require any acousuc couplant The system operates in a pitch- catch model A short burst of Raylelgh (surface) waves travels around the wheel tread, and an echo lnd=cates a flaw's presence and stze Teslang was performed on both a short track in the NIST laboratory and the full-scale facihttes of the Transportatmn Test Center (TIC) an Pueblo. Colorado The report documents the design constructton, and testing of the system It is also to serve as an operattonal gu=de for the equtpment being dehvered to the FRA 49335 Prasll, B l n - s l t u n o n d e s t r u c t i v e t e s t i n g of t r a c k f a d s by the S N C F (In French) International C o n f e r e n c e on Non D e s t r u c t w e Inspection pp_ 223-234_ l'Asso c[atton A e r o n a u t t q u e et A s t r o n a u t t q u e de France (1991) 49223 Jo, J R e s i d u a l s t r e s s measurement in railroad car wheels D t s s e r t a t t o n Ab stracts lnternattonal, Vol 52, No 2, pp 1010-B (Aug 1991)(DA9118799) A new failure cnterton for discrtmmatmg good and bad (overheated)

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rmlroad car wheels Ls proposed The procedure for the new d~sc[xmmauem criterion is based on the fluctuations of the axlmutha] residual stress ,n the tread of the wheel Th~s criterion is based on a maximum hkehhot.~d stattsttcal analysts of data obtained from stx different wheels as determined by X-ray diffracuon Of these Iocanons, the analys~s showed the tread, and perhaps a critical point on the top of the flange, to be the most sensmve to resxdual stress The variance analys~s showed [ha[ fluctuations in stress at the most sens[hve IocaUon m the tread appeared to be related [o the service h~sIory The residual stresses showed oscillatory pattern ]n the hoop dtrechon around the wheels Extension of the measurement technology t(i the use of magnetoelasuc stress me~urement is proposed To evaluate the inaccuracy m stress data possible from a large sample with curved ,;urface correcuons for a dehberate tdt of the plane of the X-ray dfffractometer Irom the normal to the sample surface have been developed To validate our X-ray res=dual stress data residual stresses were also measured by hole dnlhng Excellent agreement between two techmques was found 49149 Bray. D E . Salkovskl, C L U l t r a s o n i c inspection o f r o t a r y coupl er s m u n i t - t r a i n coal service Matertals E v a l u a u o n , Vol 50, No 3. pp. 373-385 (Mar 1992) A sudden increase m coupler failure m railway coal transportation wagons was noted after the mtroducuon of a rotary-dump offloadmg facd~[y at a power station m Texas The wagons also underwent harsher service condmons than had previously been the case The goal of the research descnbed m this paper was to develop a tool to reduce on-lme fa, lure of the rotary couplers by ldenhfymg the one that were hkely to fad and removing them from service In-service inspection would also decreases maintenance costs by ehmmating the need to remove the coupler for visual mspecuon An ultrasonic probe was developed whtch uses Rayle]gh-Wave Inspecuon cahbrated and used successfully

Mutton, P J , Langrnan, R.A_ Non-destructive residual stress measurement in r a i l w a y w h e e l s , b a s e d on t h e magnetomechanical effect

48990

N o n - D e s t r u c t t v e T e s t i n g - Austraha, Vol 28, No 5, pp 130-134 (Sep.-Oct 1991) Railway wheels must be respected periodically usmg nondestruchve techmques in order to minimize the nsk of catastrophic failure, resuhmg from tens,le restdual stresses Plate dtscolourat,on ts no longer considered as adequate indicator of thermal damage m overheated wheels Thts paper descnhes a test mstrumenl, know as the Wheel Stress Device or Rotatton Rig which uses the mfluence that a unlaxtal stress field has on the magnetJ(hysterests behavtour of ferromagnet=c matenals. While the dev=ce can and does indicate the presence of thermal damage successfully, further work and staustlcal analysts wtll he needed to calibrate levels of restdual stress m order to dectde whether or not a particular wheel should be wtthdrawn from service

McNetl. S . Motazed, B , Alfelor, R., Short, T Automated railhead surface flaw inspection

48843

Internattonal A d v a n c e s m N o n d e s t r u c t t v e T e s t i n g Vol 16, Edtted by W J M c G o n n a g l e . pp_ 137-159 G o r d o n and Breach S cten ce P u b h s h e r s (1991) Recent advances m computer based mspeclJon, the automat=on of the mspecuon of other track components and road surfaces mdtcate that a itomated rail head surface mspectton JS feasible Laboratory expenments were used to demonstrate the procedures and define future directions. This paper descnhes the elements of a system for automated tad surface flaw ~denuficat~on and presents the results of the laboratory experiments A proposed system including hardware and software for data acquls,t]on processing, storage and output ts descnbed 48640 Utrata, D , Gray, T Use of u l t r a s o n i c m o d e l i n g in t h e inspection of r a d w a y a x l e s

with contact transducers R e v t e w of Progress in Quant~tattve N o n d e s t r u c t t v e E v a l u a u o n , La Jolla. C a h f o m t a (Untted States). 15-20 Jul. 1990 Vol 10 A, pp 621-628 Edtted by D O . T h o m p s o n and D.E C h t m e n t t P len u m Press (1991) 1SBN 0 - 3 0 6 - 4 3 9 0 3 - 4 The acoustic reflecuon of flaws =n a component being inspected will vary m flaw dtstance from the detector, Inspectton practices have accounted for this behavtor through the use of distance-amphtude correcuon (DAC) curves An altemauve method of obtaining such mspectmn cahbratlon has been mvesugated through the use of an ultrasomc measurement model "l-he model makes use of a single reference waveform, and then predtcts the response from any flaw wtthm the geometry of the destred test pmce The model has previously been vahdated only wtth tmmers~on transducers This study wdl evaluate the apphcabthty of the model to various contact