Ultrasonic under-car rail wheel inspection system
Krautkrämer WheelStar performs the complete inspection without removing the wheelset from the rail car, which provides maximum inspection throughput – the whole inspection cycle only takes 15 minutes per complete wheelset.

Train wheels are one of the most safety critical elements of rolling stock as they are exposed to high stress, particularly due to increasing speeds, loads and distances. Global railroad standards require these assets to be ultrasonically inspected on a regular basis. Rail operators, manufacturers and maintenance facilities are constantly seeking increased productivity and improved quality using non-destructive testing solutions. Krautkrämer WheelStar makes even overnight wheel inspection easy. It inspects the tread, face, flange and (straight) web areas of the wheel and visualizes the results in a projection view including automatic defect recognition (ADR) for easy interpretation by the operator.

Solutions for the ultrasonic inspection of long steel products

Waygate Technologies’ line of Krautkrämer ROWA™ Ux industrial automated UT systems are the most compact and simplistic solution for the full-body inspection of bars, billets and wire stock made from (stainless) steel alloys, aluminum, brass, and titanium on the market.

The system is designed for the highest quality requirements and meets all common ultrasonic inspection standards such as ISO 18563, AMS2154 Class AA, NADCAP as well as the industrial standards of the automotive and aviation industries. The compact dimensions of the mechanics enable for the most cost- effective integration into existing or new inspection lines. The optionally available reference standard manipulator “RSM” also enables a fully automatic, 100% reproducible sensitivity adjustment without any operator influence

Non-destructive testing (NDT) of bar stock is subject to constantly increasing demands concerning the quality of the test. This applies to bright precision steel and special bar quality (SBQ) levels as well as to hot-rolled black steel bar and wire, which often are used as a semi-finished product for cold-drawn bars.

Until the mid-2000s, eddy current inspection only was still sufficient to meet the quality requirements of the automotive industry. Today, non-destructive ultrasonic testing has become a standard method for most material qualities.

Phased-array test systems require significantly less maintenance, have a higher level of availability and, at the same time, place lower demands on the personnel than conventional ultrasonic test systems, since all settings of previously prepared data sets are made fully automatically and are reproducible.

Increase productivity and reduce operating costs while meeting all regulatory requirements

Krautkrämer ROT is a high-speed full-body tube tester with rotating ultrasonic probes for seamless and electrical resistance welded (ERW) tubes. Krautkrämer ROT comes in a compact package and is designed to be integrated into the production line for online testing. In addition to defect testing, a complete dimensional measurement is also available. Different models are available for tube diameters from 10 to 345 mm (.39 to 13.6 in.) outer diameter.

Full Body Ultrasonic Inspection (FBUI) of tubes:
The requirements on OCTG pipe products have been constantly rising due to advanced exploration techniques like hydraulic fracturing or horizontal drilling. Seamless tubes (e. g. for risers or drill pipe) are usually tested for flaws on the outer and inner surface and for inside wall defects. As well wall thickness- and dimensional measurement (GEO) takes place. Waygate Technologies rotary testing machines are the optimum solution to fulfill the required test task on small to medium diameter ranges, representing a compact solution that can be integrated directly into the production process. Beside seamless tubes, electrically welded tubes (ERW) having flash-trimmed weld seams are also tested on rotation units if the later tube application specifies a corresponding test.