Cracked/broken railway wheel poses a serious potential safety hazard to the smooth operation of railroad transit. Several preventive measures are often taken by railroads to find and replace broken wheels for ensuring operation safety. This paper discusses the use of online ultrasonic wheel defect detection system and its application to the Chinese railway industries. Basic principle behind ultrasonic inspection and mechanism of ultrasonic probe array control of the system will also be introduced. In addition, implementation and installation requirements of online wheel defect detection system will be described. Finally, this paper will demonstrate actual data on wheel rim crack detected in Chinese rail industry which serves to verify and establish the reliability of this technology.

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