Ultrasonic Flaw Detection Systems for Testing Rails of Iranian Railways (RAI)

To have a safe and reliable railway system, Nondestructive Testing (NDT) methods should be implemented in order to avoid catastrophic failures. Moreover, NDT methods provide a powerful tool for proper maintenance of valuable railway system assets. Among NDT methods, Ultrasonic Testing (UT) along with Magnetic Particle Testing (MPT) and Eddy Current Testing (ECT) play significant roles in testing rails, rail welds and other train parts and assemblies such as wheels, suspension system and bogie axles of rolling stocks. One of the vital sections of rail tracksare the weld joints. Nowadays, two main methods of welding are being used in Iran railway (RAI) forjoining rails: thermite welding and flash butt welding. Narrow gap welding is also used in some cases. Each of these methods has their own pros and cons. Penetrate Testing (PT) along with UT are used to detect potential flaws in both the weld and rail. UT is used both before installing rails (at rail manufacturing site) and during operation in certain timeperiods in order to detect internal cracks and any other flaws which might lead to failure of the rail. In this paper, a brief overview of the methods of rail welding is presented and two ultrasonic flaw detectors used in RAI for inspecting rails are introduced.

کلیدواژه ها:

Nondestructive Testing ، Ultrasonic Testing ، Railways ، Welding ، Asset Management