Proof of concept of wayside railroad wheel inspection using a laser-air hybrid ultrasonic technique
Non-destructive inspection of railroad wheels is performed in maintenance shops, where wheels are removed and inspected individually. No technique is yet available to the railroad industry to perform wayside inspections of wheels on a moving train. The characteristics of laser and air-coupled
ultrasound are discussed to justify the use of a laser-air hybrid ultrasonic technique. Laser generation of ultrasound is combined with air-coupled detection to provide a flexible non-contact and remote technique that would enable the railroad industry to perform wayside inspections of moving
railroad wheels. The present paper describes Proof of Concept set-up and results of the experiments performed at the Transportation Technology Center facilities, in Pueblo, Colorado. Sensors are used to detect the position of the wheel, drive a two-position mirror to direct the laser beam
to one of two test stations and trigger the laser when the wheel is in position for detection. Wheels are inspected for subsurface shattered rim cracks, thermal fatigue cracks along the tread and the flange areas of the wheel. Analysis is based on the time domain radio frequency (RF) signal
and time-frequency wavelet transforms. The experimental results are promising, indicating that dynamic wayside inspections are possible with the laser-air hybrid ultrasonic technique.
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, The Johns Hopkins University, 810 Wyman Park Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21211, USA 2: Department of Mechanics, University of Palermo, viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy 3: Transportation Technology Center, Inc., 55500 DOT Road; PO Box 11130; Pueblo, CO, USA
Publication date: 01 September 2003
- Official Journal of The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing - includes original research and development papers, technical and scientific reviews and case studies in the fields of NDT and CM.
- Information for Authors
- Submit a Paper
- Subscribe to this Title
- Information for Advertisers
- Terms & Conditions
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content