PNNL

Abstract

Ultrasonic nondestructive examination (NDE) has a long and successful history of application across a wide array of industries, including nuclear, aerospace, and transportation sectors. In coarse-grained, cast Manganese (Mn) steel frog components, NDE/inspection challenges are encountered both in-field (after the frogs have been installed on a rail line) and at the manufacturing facilities during post-fabrication QA/QC activities. Periodically inherently flawed frogs are received from a manufacturer, and put into service, as most railroad operators do not have a means to conduct pre-service examinations on received components. The problem generates a more significant impact when the cost of labor for repair and/or replacement is then added to the equation. In some cases, warranty claims cannot be made due to the lack of part identification and uncertainty in the root cause of the failure. Accordingly, there is a need for a pre-service inspection system that can provide a rapid, cost-effective and non-intrusive inspection capability for detection of defects, flaws, and other anomalies in frog components, in order to avoid premature initiation of cracks or failures of these components during service. This study focused on evaluating use of a volumetric phased-array ultrasonic testing (PA-UT) method to monitor fabrication quality assurance. In this preliminary assessment of using PA-UT, data were acquired at a frequency of 2.0 MHz on a known, flawed Mn steel frog component directly from a manufacturing facility. The component contained flaws commonly found as a result of the manufacturing process of these cast rail components. The data were analyzed and the anomalies were detected, localized and characterized. Results were compared against baseline radiographic data. A detection metric was reported in the form of signal-to-noise values.