OKOndt Group at 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (20th WCNDT), Incheon, Korea May 2024.

The OKOSCAN 73HS System is intended for automated high-speed testing of rails laid down in a track.

This ultrasonic rail inspection equipment allows to detect all types of fatal defects: transverse and longitudinal horizontal cracks, cracks from bolt holes etc.

The supply kit of the System includes:

  • flaw detection trolley
  • 4 wheel probes
  • ultrasonic modules OKO-24 (24 pcs minimum)
  • encoder
  • PC with a special-purpose software.

The system ensures testing at a speed of up to 40 km/h (25 miles).

High-Speed Rail Testing System OKOSCAN 73HS
  • Trolley (Carriage)

The testing trolley assures the positioning and movement of the wheel probes. Electric drives mounted onto the trolley serve for an automatic adjusting of the trolley
to the gauge type (track width). It is an auxilliary mechanism which helps to center the wheel probes along the rail axis.

Key features of the flaw detection trolley:

  • capability to test curves with radius of less than 200 m (at a lower testing speed – of not less than 120 m)
  • prompt automatic width adjustment to the gauge type 
  • ease of maintenance
  • capability to control the suspension system (cant).
  • Wheel probes

 

Four (4) wheel probes are incorporated in the ultrasonic rail testing System's structure. Each probe includes:

  • three transducers of 70 deg., 2 MHz
  • one transducer of 50 deg.,  2 MHz
  • one transducer of 37deg.,  2 MHz (sidelooking);
  • one transducer of 0 deg.,  4 MHz
  • Ultrasonic modules

 

Single-channel ultrasonic modules OKO-24 with a frequency range from 1 to 7 MHz and initial pulse sending frequency of up to 4 kHz are used in the OKOSCAN 73HS System.
The OKOSCAN 73HS structure envisages two positioning options of the ultrasonic modules: 

  1. Directly on the trolley. This positioning option provides for better protection against interference, wheel prob connection cables to the ultrasonic modules have a smaller length, data from the module to the PC are transferred through the Ethernet cable.
  2. In the vehicle. This variant of positioning releases from an additional load and decreases the trolley's weight, ultrasonic modules are protected from external climatic conditions impact.
  • Special-purpose software

The high-speed rail flaw detector OKOSCAN 73HS is supplied with the pre-installed software. The software is composed of:

SW for the channel parameters setup 

SW for testing, review and analysis of the test results.

 

System for an automated high-speed testing of rail in service OKOSCAN 73HS, view from above
System for an automated high-speed testing of rail in service OKOSCAN 73HS, view from above
System for an automated high-speed testing of rail in service OKOSCAN 73HS, view from above
System for an automated high-speed testing of rail in service OKOSCAN 73HS, view from above