UDS2-73 rail flaw detector

Flaw detector advantages

• complete scanning of the rail (excluding rail base blades) due to the flaw detector multi-channeling;
• built-in standard settings for channel operation;
• determining the distance and speed during continuous testing;
• real-time test result display in B-Scan mode (for 4 channels);
• scanning and saving the information every other millimeter of traveled distance from all channels;
• test results recorded at different sensitivity levels;
• registration of all test results and advanced capabilities of data analysis;
• the flaw detector with the standard scanning scheme applied enables detecting all types of fatal defects, appearing during the operation of a rail track.

Flaw detector distinctive features

• large color high-contrast TFT display;
• encoder synchronization;
• information display forms: А-Scan, B-Scan;
• number of channels for continuous testing: 28;
• number of channels for manual testing: 3;
• techniques and areas of rail head testing:
  • echo technique with an angle-beam probe for testing the field and gage side of the railhead in the direction of motion and against the direction of motion;
  • echo technique with an angle-beam probe for testing the central part of the railhead in the direction of motion and against the direction of motion;
  • echo-mirror technique with an angle-beam probe for testing the central part of the railhead in the direction of motion and against the direction of motion;
  • echo-mirror technique with an angle-beam probe for testing the field and gage side in the direction of motion and against the direction of motion;

Fig. Echo techniques for railhead testing

Fig. Echo-mirror techniques for railhead testing

• Techniques and areas of testing the web and its projection in the base
  • echo and mirror-shadow techniques with a straight-beam single-crystal probe for detection of longitudinal horizontal cracks;
  • echo techniques with an angle-beam probe in the direction of motion and against the direction of motion for detection of transverse cracks and testing bolt holes;

Fig. Echo techniques for testing the web and base

The flaw detector using the standard scanning schemes enables detecting all types of fatal defects with the following features:

Fig. - Types of sharp-defective rails

• transverse cracks in the 2nd-category railhead, including well-developed transverse cracks with reflecting surface, and also the ones developing under horizontal rolling surface separations which are not detected by the standard echo technique;
• longitudinal horizontal cracks in the web, even if they do not reach the rail axis in their development, and also in the head, including the ones that do not go beyond the web projection;
• longitudinal horizontal cracks located in the middle of the rail height;
• cracks from bolt holes, including the ones at an early stage of their development when they do not go beyond the bolt hole projection onto the roll surface;
• vertical cracks in the base and web located mainly along the rail axis;
• transverse corrosion cracks in the base located in the web projection area.

Instrument Service Functions

• sound and visual alarm, mode switching with the help of "hot buttons";
• electronic registration of test results from all channels allows reinterpreting them and making complete reports;
• mode of determining the rail type and automatic correction of settings;
• mode of testing bolt holes with special settings;
• B-Scan in real time is used from one, two or four channels (of the left and right rails of driving-into and driving-out channels) for the in-depth analysis of detected signals, apart from the common information display in the form of А-scan;
• possibility of TCG curve (of any shape) plotting.

А-scan

B-scan

А-scan+B-scan

Multi А-scan+ B-scan-All

Fig. Modes of testing results display in A-scan and B-scan on the flaw detector screen

Additional Software

"LuCH-Controller 1.6" is intended for viewing and analyzing test results of UDS2-73 ultrasonic rail flaw detector, as well as for interpretating and displaying information on suspicious rail sections. The present program facilitates operation with the data stored on a PC.

Main advantages of program application are:

• convenient operation with the tested section (span) database;
• selection of various groupings of testing channels, tested rail, tested area, testing technique;
• measurement of defect conditional dimensions in B-scan mode;
• viewing А-scan viewing based on the data recorded in B-scan mode;
• viewing the defectogram (B-scan) in scroll mode or in mode of fast switch to the set coordinate;
• path marking for marking suspicious rail sections while viewing test results;
• mode of filtering test results by the sensitivity level from minus 6 to plus 6 dB in relation to the ALARM level;
• mode of viewing and producing reports on the section selected for testing.

Specifications

Main specifications:

Overall dimensions of flaw detector without a handle and with one ultrasonic unit and power unit	no more than (1040×1640×1130) mm; in transport position – no more than (900×2060×600) mm.
Equipped flaw detector weight	no more than 50 kg.
Keypad	English, Russian.
Languages	English, Russian.
Number of ultrasonic units	4
Number of ultrasonic channels	28 channels.
Connector types	BNC, RS-19.
Data storage	Flash card.
Independent power source	NiMH storage battery of rated voltage 12 V and rated capacity 17 А∙h.
Operation time	10 hours.
Flaw detector consumed electric power	no more than 30 V•А.
Time of flaw detector operation mode setup	no more than 15 sec.
Display resolution	800×480 pixels.
Screen dimensions (width, height, diagonal)	155 mm, 95 mm, 180 mm (7.5 inches).
Warranty	1 year.
Interfaces
USB	USB-A (host), USB-B (slave).
Trigger O	available.
Headphones	available.
Encoder output	Single-coordinate encoder.
Main metrological performances
The limits of admissible main absolute error of flaw detector during the measurement of depth dН and coordinates,of defects depth	dН = ±(0.5+0.02НY) mm; = ±(0.5+0.02Х) mm; = ±(0.5+0.02Y) mm.
The limits of admissible main absolute error during the measurement of signals amplitudes ratio ∆N at the reception path input in the gain range from 20 dB to 80 dB	∆N = ±(0.2+0.03N); ∆N ─ main absolute error during signals amplitudes ratio measurement, dB; N ─ numeric value of signals amplitude ratio, dB.
Time instability of flaw detector reception path sensitivity	± 0.5 dB for 8 hours of continuous operation.
Protection level in operation	IP 64
Ambient temperature	from minus 400 to plus 500С.
Atmospheric pressure	from 84 to 106,7 kPa.
Relative humidity	(93 ± 3) at a temperature 25 ºС.
Flaw detector in shipping package is resistant to the influence of	vibrations; strokes with the peak shock acceleration value 98 m/s2, impulse duration 16 ms, number of strokes 1 000±10 for each direction.
Flaw detector retains its parameters when it is influenced by electromagnetic interferences which do not exceed the following norms	harmonic interferences of magnetic field in the frequency band from 30 Hz to 50 kHz with the effective value of field intensity from 130 to 70 dB; harmonic interferences of electric field in the frequency band from 10 kHz to 30 МHz with the effective value of field intensity 120 dB.
Full average flaw detector lifetime	no less than 10 years.
Probability of no-failure operation	no less than 0.9 for 2 000 h.
Pulser
Initial pulse type	Short pulse of negative polarity.
Initial pulse frequency	One-channel mode – 250 Hz; complete mode – no more than 1000 Hz.
Amplitude	180 V
Duration	60±10 ns
Rising edge duration	no more than 20 ns.
Synchronization type	from an initial pulse, from an encoder.
Receiver
Gain	from 0 to 100 dB with a step of 0.1, 1, 10 dB.
Input signal	no more than 2 V from a peak to a peak.
Input reception path resistance	no more than 300 Ω.
Digital filter	1 standard digital filter with central frequency 2.5 MHz.
Rectifier	envelope.
Setups mode
Measurements	mm
Testing range	from 0 to 1000 mm, with a step 1, 10, 100 mm.
Velocity	from 2000 m/s to 8000 m/s, with a step 1, 10, 100, 1000 m/s.
Probe zero	from 0 to 60 µs, with a step 0.1, 1 µs.
Range delay	from 0 to 1000 µs, with a step 1, 10, 100 µs.
Probe angle	from 0 to 900, with a step 10, 100
Cycles/gates
Number of cycles	max. number of cycles 16.
Cycle duration	0.01 - 0.4 ms.
Number of gates in a cycle	max. number of gates 2 for each channel.
Gate fixation level	from 0 % to 100 % of vertical screen scale.
ALARM	When the signal goes beyond the ALARM level, when the signal stays within the ALARM level.
ALARM system
Sound ALARM system		sound – separate for each rail and combined (for a group of channels); range of pulse frequency setup of alarm system sound indicator is from 0.5 to 5 kHz, with a step 100 Hz.
Light ALARM		light – separate for each rail and combined (via all ensounding channels); visual by the screen – separate for each rail and each channel.
Measurements in A-scan mode
Displayed parameters	4 measuring parameters are displayed in a status bar.
	А – amplitude of an echo-signal from a defect in relation to ALARM level, dB; S – distance "by the beam" to a defect; X – defect depth coordinate, mm; Y – defect depth coordinate, mm.
TCG curve	max. number of points is 14 per cycle, dynamic range 100 dB, vertical setup step 1 dB, horizontal – 2 mm.
Measurements in B-scan mode
"Raw" B-scan	А – max. amplitude of the echo-signal from the defect relative to the screen center, dB; H – distance "by the beam" to the defect an echo-signal from which has max. amplitude, mm; dH – conditional length "by the beam", mm; L – coordinate along the scanning path to a defect an echo-signal from which has max. amplitude, mm; dL – conditional defect length, mm.

Supply Kit

• UDS2-73 Ultrasonic Rail Flaw Detector Kit (v.3.0)