Automatic system for train wheel testing in OAO INTERPIPE NTZ – Dněpropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Full technology for:

  • Wheel transportation
  • Motion monitoring of train wheels within the automated system
  • automated ultrasonic testing in two independent devices
  • full database of ultrasonic testing results based MS SQL server with advanced possibility of splitting the results from more devices to one complex database and consequent processing and archiving
  • data acquisition and evaluation from all devices within one automated system
  • printed outputs in forms based on identification wheel (diameter, nr. of drawing, material, etc.)


This new fully automated system for non-destructive testing of train wheels was introduced in Nizhnedneprovskij Tube Rolling Plant – NTRP, join stock company INTERPIPE in spring 2008.
The system consists of the following main parts:

  • three manipulators for wheel transportation,
  • working area for geometric dimension measurement,
  • hardness tester,
  • two ultrasonic systems,
  • system for magnetic particle testing,
  • device for full measurement and final evaluation,
  • output wheel sorter (based on results).

Full capacity of complete system, in case all methods are involved, is up to 30 wheels per hour for wheel in diameter 700 to 1300 mm in width up to 250 mm.


The company STARMANS electronics is the main supplier of three manipulators for examined wheel transportation, two ultrasonic devices and integrated control system for transport controlling and motion monitoring within all testing devices used for data acquisition and processing in database containing the results. Within the database it is possible to make the statistical processing of achieved results.

With ultrasonic devices, proposed and developed by STARMANS electronics company, it is possible to test the whole surface of train wheels. The system contains 7 ultrasonic channels.

The nave and tire of the wheel are tested with contact method while the testing of the wheel disk part is made by immersion method. The curved disk part of the wheel can be examined using both mentioned method based on the shape of the surface:

  • small curvature – the triangulation method is used with two ultrasonic transducers. The signal s from these transducers are used for the keeping of constant distance of testing transducer from surface and surface perpendicularity of sound beam;
  • big curvature – surface scanning based on trajectory which is preset in interactive software part.

The subsurface flaws can be easily detected from size 1 mm in signal to noise ration min. 12 dB.


The main control system was proposed based on SIMATIC system using PROFIBUS and MPI connections between all devices. The graphical user interface offers user friendly visualization and controlling with two SIMATIC Touch screens.