Improving the Efficiency of Ultrasonic Testing of Solid-Rolled Wheel Rims During Repair of Car Wheelsets

Increasing the efficiency of ultrasonic testing in railway transport is possible due to improvement and modification of the existing technology. One of the main tasks of increasing efficiency is to improve reliability and information content of ultrasonic testing of wheel rims during repair of wheelsets. The contact method of ultrasound input for wheel rims is still predominant at the enterprises of the wagon and locomotive facilities of railways. The article covers the techniques of ultrasonic flaw detection of the rim of solid-rolled wheels during repair of wagon wheelsets in accordance with the existing regulatory technical documents. The problems of detecting defects by piezoelectric transducers with input angles of 0°, 40°, 50° when testing the rim from the lateral inner surface and 90 ° from the side of the tread area are described. A version of a new method for testing the wheel rim from the side of the tread area using piezoelectric transducers with input angles of 65°–74° is proposed. A comparative analysis was conducted to simultaneously identify eight reflectors in a test sample using 2.5R65°69°74°, P121–2.5–70° RDM and P121–0.4–90° transducers.