Re: Nondestructive testing of railroad wheels at the German Bahn AG

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Re: Nondestructive testing of railroad wheels at the German Bahn AG
Posted by: Godfrey Hands , E-mail: Godfrey@hands-ltd.demon.co.uk, on June 08, 1998 at 17:21:50:
In Reply to: Nondestructive testing of railroad wheels at the German Bahn AG posted by : Rolf Diederichs on June 06, 1998 at 20:46:23:

: Dear Forum participant
: In sad coincidence with this month's railway testing issue, Germany just
: last week suffered its worst railway accident in more than half a century.
: It is very strange that I (Rolf Diederichs) came back from the ECNDT '98
: conference Copenhagen via the same route and on the same train, with topical
: railway material in my suitcase, only 5 days before the Eschede tragedy.
: The accident occurred on June 3 - just as we were putting the final
: touches on this month's issue.
: We went ahead and released the new issue, with a few additions pertinent to
: the accident, although it is not our intention to focus on catastrophic news
: (That is fully covered on the CNN webpage).
: We'd rather not get into speculations (with the clarity of hindsight)
: on what may have been the exact reason for the derailment, but we would like
: to see some dialogue regarding the technical background, particularly now that
: it has come to light that a broken wheel which was tested ultrasonically has
: been implicated. Let us first focus on the following two articles:
: 1. The ECNDT '98 presentation of
: E. Schneider and R. Herzer - Ultrasonic Evaluation of Stresses in the Rims
: of Railroad Wheels. You can also hear it in RealAudio.
: http://www.ndt.net/article/ecndt98/rail/306/306.htm
: 2. Archive 1997 No. 6 - June:
: Nondestructive testing of railroad wheels at the German Bahn AG
: H. Hintze, Deutsche Bahn AG, Kirchmöser (English summary by Rolf Diederichs)
: New: The complete German Version: Zerstörungsfreie Überwachung an Radsätzen
: der Deutschen Bahn AG. We'll have an English translation of the full version soon.
: This article asserts that the applied ultrasonic testing method does not
: effectively recognize all possible defects of the wheel. For that reason a task
: optimized the technique which showed first good results and plans for the
: necessary modifications are underway for a long term investigation at the service
: station in Hamburg. Our question mark: Are those investigations completed and
: modifications applied??
: http://www.ndt.net/article/report/df97/hintze/hintze.htm
: It seems that there is a great degree of uncertainty regarding applied
: techniques for ICE wheels - Not that the technology is not available - it is!
: However, in-service inspection budget issues can compromise safety.
: Wheels must be tested economically without disassembling, but how can the
: dual needs of safety and economy be met?
: More reliable Ultrasonic techniques are used in manufacturing and refurbishing
: shops than in-service inspection.
: Mr. Hintze Deutsche Bahn AG, in his article:
: 'The experience of two units (since 1992 Hamburg and 1994 in Munich) showed
: that ultrasonic testing with this configuration could not be used.
: After a relatively short operation time the wheel material characteristics
: changed by hardening in such a way that sound was already absorbed and no
: evaluation could be performed by future inspection. For that reason a task force
: together with the FhG IzfP optimized the technique ....'
: This was stated at the German-French Workshop (DGZfP/Cofrend)
: in Aachen in April '97. There were plans to investigate the optimization in Hamburg.
: But what happened?
: Was it successful?
: Was it applied to Munich as well?
: Who knows more about this subject?
: We will be looking into this in the next few days.
:
: We hope you will all join us in discussing the details of the wheel testing
: issue as well as related topics such as 'Risk based NDT management' and
: Probability of detection.
: Personally, it is troubling to me that as usual, we see economic issues
: take precedence over safety.
: Rolf
It seems to me that some technique that can be simply and cheaply applied, capable of detecting the larger cracks could be an option for testing here.
Thius makes me think back 30 or 40 years to the old art of WHEEL TAPPING or hitting the wheel with a hammer and listening to the ring of it. It was originally used to detect cracks in the wheels, but modern and better techniques appear to have taken this task over.
I gather that it is still used in Austria for testing that brakes have released from Freight Cars.
Are these modern techniques viable and sufficiently reliable for periodic crack testing of wheels for high speed applications ?
The suggestion is that they are not !!
There is a company in Germany that currently manufactures and markets a high tech version of the WHEEL TAPPING technique. This is RTE from Pfinztal/Karlsruhe .
They market an instrument ProCon 9000. This should be able to simply detect larger cracks (about 2 seconds test time) in wheels.
I am also the UK rep for this company.
Regards,
Godfrey Hands

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Clint Donovan 14:14 Nov-25-2006 (1)

asmvicey gdyfhqej qiyo cioeur 22:40 Feb-27-2007 (0)

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: : : Dear Forum participant : : In sad coincidence with this month's railway testing issue, Germany just : : last week suffered its worst railway accident in more than half a century. : : It is very strange that I (Rolf Diederichs) came back from the ECNDT '98 : : conference Copenhagen via the same route and on the same train, with topical : : railway material in my suitcase, only 5 days before the Eschede tragedy. : : The accident occurred on June 3 - just as we were putting the final : : touches on this month's issue. : : We went ahead and released the new issue, with a few additions pertinent to : : the accident, although it is not our intention to focus on catastrophic news : : (That is fully covered on the CNN webpage). : : We'd rather not get into speculations (with the clarity of hindsight) : : on what may have been the exact reason for the derailment, but we would like : : to see some dialogue regarding the technical background, particularly now that : : it has come to light that a broken wheel which was tested ultrasonically has : : been implicated. Let us first focus on the following two articles: : : 1. The ECNDT '98 presentation of : : E. Schneider and R. Herzer - Ultrasonic Evaluation of Stresses in the Rims : : of Railroad Wheels. You can also hear it in RealAudio. : : http://www.ndt.net/article/ecndt98/rail/306/306.htm : : 2. Archive 1997 No. 6 - June: : : Nondestructive testing of railroad wheels at the German Bahn AG : : H. Hintze, Deutsche Bahn AG, Kirchmöser (English summary by Rolf Diederichs) : : New: The complete German Version: Zerstörungsfreie Überwachung an Radsätzen : : der Deutschen Bahn AG. We'll have an English translation of the full version soon. : : This article asserts that the applied ultrasonic testing method does not : : effectively recognize all possible defects of the wheel. For that reason a task : : optimized the technique which showed first good results and plans for the : : necessary modifications are underway for a long term investigation at the service : : station in Hamburg. Our question mark: Are those investigations completed and : : modifications applied?? : : http://www.ndt.net/article/report/df97/hintze/hintze.htm : : It seems that there is a great degree of uncertainty regarding applied : : techniques for ICE wheels - Not that the technology is not available - it is! : : However, in-service inspection budget issues can compromise safety. : : Wheels must be tested economically without disassembling, but how can the : : dual needs of safety and economy be met? : : More reliable Ultrasonic techniques are used in manufacturing and refurbishing : : shops than in-service inspection. : : Mr. Hintze Deutsche Bahn AG, in his article: : : 'The experience of two units (since 1992 Hamburg and 1994 in Munich) showed : : that ultrasonic testing with this configuration could not be used. : : After a relatively short operation time the wheel material characteristics : : changed by hardening in such a way that sound was already absorbed and no : : evaluation could be performed by future inspection. For that reason a task force : : together with the FhG IzfP optimized the technique ....' : : This was stated at the German-French Workshop (DGZfP/Cofrend) : : in Aachen in April '97. There were plans to investigate the optimization in Hamburg. : : But what happened? : : Was it successful? : : Was it applied to Munich as well? : : Who knows more about this subject? : : We will be looking into this in the next few days. : : : : We hope you will all join us in discussing the details of the wheel testing : : issue as well as related topics such as 'Risk based NDT management' and : : Probability of detection. : : Personally, it is troubling to me that as usual, we see economic issues : : take precedence over safety. : : Rolf : It seems to me that some technique that can be simply and cheaply applied, capable of detecting the larger cracks could be an option for testing here. : Thius makes me think back 30 or 40 years to the old art of WHEEL TAPPING or hitting the wheel with a hammer and listening to the ring of it. It was originally used to detect cracks in the wheels, but modern and better techniques appear to have taken this task over. : I gather that it is still used in Austria for testing that brakes have released from Freight Cars. : Are these modern techniques viable and sufficiently reliable for periodic crack testing of wheels for high speed applications ? : The suggestion is that they are not !! : There is a company in Germany that currently manufactures and markets a high tech version of the WHEEL TAPPING technique. This is RTE from Pfinztal/Karlsruhe . : They market an instrument ProCon 9000. This should be able to simply detect larger cracks (about 2 seconds test time) in wheels. : I am also the UK rep for this company. : Regards, : Godfrey Hands

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