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Experience and Modern Rail Defect Detection Technologies: Efficiency of High-Speed Systems
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The reliability and safety of railway operations directly depend on the timely detection of rail defects. Ultrasonic testing has proven to be one of the most effective non-destructive testing methods. Today, a wide range of equipment is used for this purpose: from manual inspection trolleys to high-speed automated systems installed on locomotives and road-rail vehicles. Practical field experience, supported by many years of operation, along with modern technologies - particularly the OKOSCAN-73HS system - demonstrates that the optimal combination of inspection quality, mobility, and cost efficiency delivers maximum performance.

Rail Flaw Detection: Critical Defects Detected by OKOSCAN 73HS System
Hits: 123

The reliability and safety of railway operations - especially on high-speed and heavily loaded track sections - are determined by a combination of factors, among which timely detection of rail defects is one of the most critical. During operation, rails are subjected to significant dynamic loads and high stresses in the wheel-rail contact zone, leading to the development of metal contact fatigue. Even minor internal discontinuities or surface damage under such conditions can evolve into critical defects and significantly increase the risk of rail fracture. Effective non-destructive testing (rail flaw detection) of rails makes it possible to detect such hazardous flaws at early stages and prevent their progression to a critical level.

Ultrasonic rail flaw detectors from the UDS2-7X product line
Hits: 2097

Hand-pushed flaw detectors, such as the UDS2-73 and UDS2-77, are used for confirmatory inspections following high-speed ultrasonic rail testing or for primary inspections of small track sections, tight-radius curves, station tracks, and other areas where high-speed systems are impractical or ineffective.

Comprehensive Rail Inspection and Monitoring: Enhancing Safety and Efficiency through Risk-Based Engineering
Hits: 2707

The safety of railway operations across the globe relies significantly on the quality and integrity of the railway tracks. Tracks in good condition serve as the foundation for safe and reliable transportation, reducing the likelihood of accidents and ensuring smooth operations. Achieving and maintaining such safety standards in the most efficient and cost-effective manner involves the implementation of Risk-Based Engineering principles. These principles provide a structured framework for assessing and mitigating potential risks associated with railway tracks.

Manual Rail Inspection on the Track
Hits: 2874

Manual rail inspection on the track is used in two scenarios:

  • As a confirmatory inspection of defects detected during continuous rail inspection using single-rail and double-rail flaw detectors or, in some cases, high-speed ultrasonic rail inspection systems.
  • As an acceptance inspection of aluminothermic welded rail joints.

High speed ultrasonic testing of rails in a railway track
Hits: 2983

The systems of OKOSCAN-73HS family can be mounted on different chassis depending on end user`s requirements. A railway car or a hi-rail truck with truck bed will allow using large monitors and comfortable conditions for operators` work which is essential during continuous inspection of large railway track areas. Usage of hi-rail trucks is the most universal option because it allows to start and finish inspection at any rail/road crossing. This helps to plan inspection in the areas with busy train traffic.

UDS family of the ultrasonic rail flaw detectors
Hits: 2840

The middle link in the rail track quality management system (in the part of ultrasonic rail inspection) is the rails ultrasonic testing using hand-pushed ultrasonic rail inspection trolleys, also known as ultrasonic single-rail and dual-rail flaw detectors. This is the most widespread class of equipment used on all railways in the world.

Building the rails quality monitoring system
Hits: 2403

The safety of movement on any railway track in the world depends on the quality of the railway track. The most cost effective solution is following the Risk Based Engineering principles which requires correct and up-to-date information about all rails in the railway tracks. Detection and further monitoring of the technical state of rails with operational defects allow their timely replacement. One of the main components of the rails defects detection approaches is ultrasonic rail inspection, which allows detection of both surface and inner defects in the whole rail cross section (except for the rail base wings).

Corrosion NDT and monitoring – application of the Sonocon B/BL and ExScan1000 instruments
Hits: 10061

The control of corrosion and erosion damages is one of the essential engineering tasks solving of which ensures the long performance of the objects and constructions. Moreover, despite all the measures taken to increase the corrosion resistance of materials, control and monitoring of appearance and development of corrosion and erosion damages remains one of the most important elements of the Risk Based Engineering. These tasks are relevant for almost all major industries: nuclear, thermal and hydropower, chemical and petrochemical industries, oil and gas, piping, naval, railway and automotive transport, and others.

Visualization of the rail ultrasonic testing results — it is a key to a correct assessment of their condition
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One of the rail track ultrasonic testing (UT) features compared to the UT of another objects of the railroad transport is its multi-channeling at a variety of sounding schemes, and a large extension of the TO. As a result of this particular feature, it is more challenging for the operator to seize such volume of information in real time – the testing by the single-rail trolley UDS2-77 and double-rail trolleys UDS2-73, as a rule, is performed at a speed of 3-4 km/h – the operator's walking speed.

Nondestructive testing of welds
Hits: 21610

Welds are the most common type of permanent joints in all industrial sectors. There are many types of welds both in terms of welding methods (manual electric arc, automatic or semi-automatic, submerged arc, gas-shielded arc, electrical resistance welding, etc.), and in terms of joint configurations (butt, fillet, tee, lap welds). However, in most cases, irrespective of the welding method, welded joints are subject to quality testing at the end of welding. Flaw inspection is aimed at identifying various defects that lead to a weakened weld strength or poor leak tightness. Timely detection of such flaws significantly affects the determination of service life of a whole welded structure. The weld quality is particularly critical for high pressure vessels and systems, as well as for load-bearing structures.

Application of the eddy current flaw detector ETS2-77 for detection of surface defects Rolling contact fatigue type in rails
Hits: 17273

Rails are one of the most important and, at the same time, most stressed elements of the railroad transport and metropolitan, since they are particularly exposed to the loading caused by the rolling stock as well as the dynamic loading. Due to the increased speed of the trains for the last years, and the increment loading of the freight cars, the development of service, fatigue-type defects in the place of contact of the train wheel with the rail head surface may occur. These are so-called “Rolling contact fatigue” (RCF) defects.

Evaluation of the surface cracks depth in the metal products
Hits: 8789

Both the manufacture defects – the ones that appear in the process of production – and in-service defects of fatigue type may develop (fig.1) in various metal products. The cracks may develop at different angles to the surface growing to considerable depths thus causing the threat of a product breaking when in service.

About OKOndt GROUP

OKOndt GROUP is a group of companies with more than 30 years of experience in researching, developing, and producing nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment for industrial customers worldwide. The production companies in the group are Ultracon-Service LLC and Promprylad LLC.

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