PAPER

Hollow Axle Ultrasonic Crack Detection for Conventional Railway V

ehicles
Vehicles
Kazunari MAKINO
Researcher,

Jiro YOHSO
Senior Researcher,

Hiroshi SAKAMOTO
Hiromichi ISHIDUKA
Assistant Senior Researcher,
Senior Researcher, Laboratory Head,
Vehicle & Bogie Parts Strength Laboratory, Vehicle Structure Technology Division
An ultrasonic testing technique was studied for a hollow axle with a 30 mm bore diameter manufactured on a trial basis for conventional railway vehicles. To compensate
for the decrease in crack detection sensitivity due to the small bore diameter, a
piezocomposite focal probe was designed. It has been demonstrated that the ultrasonic
testing equipment thus developed could detect artificial flaws with a depth of 0.15 mm at
the non-fitted central part and those with a depth of 0.3 mm at the inner end of the wheelseat
(fitted part). The accuracy of axle inspection for conventional railway vehicles equipped
with such hollow axles will match that of Shinkansen vehicles.
Keywords
Keywords: conventional railway vehicles, hollow axle, ultrasonic test, piezocomposite focal
probe

1. Introduction

60 mm diam.

On railway vehicles, every component is inspected in

compliance with a fixed standard in order to prevent
breakdown or damage. Since a failure may lead to a serious accident, axles need to be inspected at the regular
intervals specified. For Shinkansen vehicles, hollow axles with a bore diameter of 60 mm have been used to reduce the unsprung mass since the debut of the Series 300
Shinkansen cars in 1992. These axles are inspected automatically through the bore with ultrasonic angle beams
(see Fig. 1). On the other hand, solid axles are used mostly
for conventional railway vehicles, though there are some
cases where hollow axles with a bore diameter of 60 mm
are used, for example on JR Hokkaido Series 183 and JR
Shikoku Series 2000 diesel railcars.
Recently, there have been calls for further automation and labor saving in the inspection of conventional
railway vehicles. If fine cracks in an axle can be detected
with the wheelset assembled, part of the magnetic particle test that is carried out by dislocating or dismounting wheels and other fittings can be omitted, thereby
Brake disk (or gear)
Probe head
(Scanning in axial direction
with rotation)

improving axle inspection efficiency. The technique 1) that

uses grazing SH waves to detect fine cracks is difficult to
apply because a high viscosity couplant is needed in order to transmit ultrasound.
Therefore, based on over 10 years experience with
hollow axles used on Shinkansen vehicles, we developed
a hollow axle and ultrasonic testing equipment that are
applicable to conventional railway vehicles. This paper
provides the results of tests on hollow axles, manufactured on a trial basis, carried out using this equipment.

2.

Solid axle ultrasonic testing technique for

conventional railway vehicles

The solid axle ultrasonic test for conventional railway

vehicles is now carried out with a combination of normal
beam, longitudinal wave angle-beam, and angle-beam techniques. An outline of the method is described in Fig. 2.
The normal beam technique positions a normal probe
on an axle end face and tests the axle with ultrasound parallel to the axial direction. However, it cannot test the
positions where the ultrasound does not reach, such as the
outer end of the wheelseat. In addition, cracks at a depth
of more than 10 mm at the non-fitted central part might
Difficult part to inspect using
normal beam technique

Brake disk (or gear)

Angle-beam
technique

Bore
Transducer
Angle-beam
technique

: Probe

Axle

: Ultrasound
Wheel

Fig. 1

78

Hollow axle ultrasonic testing technique for

Shinkansen vehicles

Normal beam
technique
Axle

Wheelseat
Gear seat
(or brake disk seat)

Flaw

Outer
end

Wedge

Longitudinal wave
angle-beam technique
Flaw depth

Non-fitted central part

Fig. 2

Inner
end

Wheel

Solid axle ultrasonic testing technique for

conventional railway vehicles
QR of RTRI, Vol. 46, No. 2, June. 2005

not be detected because of the beam spread or attenuation

of the ultrasound.
The longitudinal wave angle-beam technique positions
a wedge at an appropriate angle between a normal probe
and an axle end face according to each part to be inspected
such as the journal, the inner and outer ends of the
wheelseat, the gear seat and the non-fitted central part.
Then, each position is tested with an ultrasonic longitudinal wave, the refraction angle of which is normally 4 to 28
degrees. Figure 2 also shows the test set-up for the inner
end of the wheelseat. The longitudinal wave angle-beam
technique can detect shallower cracks than the normal
beam technique, but the inspection accuracy is limited
because the path length (the propagation distance to the
ultrasound reflection source) is longer than that of the
angle-beam technique explained below. The automatic
ultrasonic equipment for testing solid axles using the longitudinal wave angle-beam technique has been introduced
at some workshops for conventional railway vehicles.
The angle-beam technique transmits an ultrasonic
shear wave whose angle of refraction is larger than that of
the longitudinal wave angle-beam technique (normally 37
to 55 degrees) from an axle surface to test the opposite
side of the axle surface. The path length is shorter than
those of the normal beam and longitudinal wave anglebeam techniques, and the shear wave with a shorter wavelength is used, therefore the inspection accuracy is good.
Since the probe cannot scan the positions where parts such
as a wheel, brake disk and gear are fitted, however, probes
at various angles of refraction are needed to make the ultrasound transmit from the surface where there are no fittings or differences in level.
As mentioned above, there are both merits and demerits in each solid axle testing technique for conventional
railway vehicles. To improve the efficiency and accuracy
of the axle inspection drastically, it is necessary to discuss
the introduction of hollow axles on both conventional railway and Shinkansen vehicles.

3. Bore diameter of axles for conventional railway

vehicles
Axle journal diameters on conventional railway vehicles are mostly either 110 mm or 120 mm. If an axle
journal with a 110 mm diameter is bored to a diameter of
60 mm, as has been experienced in Shinkansen axles, then
the bending stress at the journal is about 1.10 times that
of a solid axle. This does not pose a serious problem.
However, the deflection and its angle at the journal will
increase because of the decreased stiffness of the axle as
a whole. Then, fretting damage at the part where the
axle is fitted with the journal bearing inner ring or the
back cover may increase as the axle rotates. It is desirable to make the bore diameter small, in order to minimize fretting damage. In addition, in the case of a journal bearing structured to install the front cover to the
axle end face with bolts, it is not possible to machine the
axle to a bore diameter of 60 mm because there are bolt
holes at the axle end face. For these reasons, we adopted
a 30 mm bore diameter for hollow axles on conventional
railway vehicles (see Fig. 3).

QR of RTRI, Vol. 46, No. 2, June. 2005

Fretting damaged part

Journal bearing
Stamp

Bolt hole
30 mm diam.
110 mm diam.
Bore
Bolt

Axle

Axle end face

Front
cover

Fig. 3

End cover
Outer ring Inner ring

Schematic view of hollow axle for conventional

railway vehicles

4. Ultrasonic testing probe improvements

4.1 Improvement of ultrasound directivity
The probe that is most commonly used for the ultrasonic testing of hollow axles on Shinkansen vehicles has a
flat transducer with a 50-degree angle of refraction. Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the ultrasound propagation oscillated with a flat transducer. When the bore diameter is 30 mm, the ultrasound is focused on and radiates from a point behind the part to be inspected (axle surface). In order to assure inspection accuracy, it is necessary to shape the transducer into a three-dimensional
curved surface and focus the ultrasound on the part to be
inspected.
We therefore designed the shape of the transducer to
focus the ultrasound on the part to be inspected 2). The
design concept of the focal transducer in Fig. 5 is outlined
below.
(1) A lattice at the bore surface of an axle is assumed.
(2) A straight line that connects each lattice and the focal
point at the part being inspected, which is the ultrasound propagation path, is defined. The lattice and
the straight line guide the angle of refraction.
(3) The angle of incidence of the ultrasound is calculated
from the ratio of the ultrasound velocity in an axle to
that in a wedge and the angle of refraction defined in
(2).
(4) A straight line is defined from each lattice toward the
transducer with the angle of incidence calculated in
(3).
(5) When the ultrasound propagates from a focal point toFlat transducer

Flat transducer

Axle center

Axle center

30 mm diam. bore
Ultrasound focal point

Ultrasound radiation

Part to be inspected (axle surface)

(a) Bore diameter: 30 mm

60 mm diam. bore
Ultrasound focal point

Part to be inspected
(axle surface)
(b) Bore diameter: 60 mm

Fig. 4 Schematic view of ultrasound propagation oscillated

with flat transducer
79

Optimized shape of transducer

(focal transducer)

Probe

Flaw echo

Press-fit echo

Flaw echo +
Press-fit echo

Lattice
Wedge

Axle surface
(part to be inspected)

Angle of incidence

Normal
transducer

Bore surface
Axlee

Angle of refraction
Focal point

Piezocomposite
transducer

Fig. 5 Design concept of focal transducer

ward the transducer via each lattice, a set of the positions where each ultrasound arrives at a certain time
is determined as the temporary shape of the transducer.
(6) The phase shift by refraction or reflection is calculated
when the ultrasound is oscillated from each position
of the transducer shape determined in (5). The temporary shape of the transducer is corrected to agree in
the phase of the received wave at all positions of the
transducer, and the final shape of the transducer is
determined.
4.2 Control of ultrasound wave shape
Piezoelectric ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) are conventionally used as the material for
transducers. In this case, the damping effect of the transducer is small and the flaw echo becomes a waveform accompanied by several waves. On the other hand, fitted
parts such as a wheelseat generate the press-fit echo consisting of multipeak waves, because there are very small
cavities caused by the surface roughness of the axle and
fittings that make the ultrasound reflect. When a flaw is
small, it is difficult to distinguish the flaw echo from the
press-fit echo. If the waveform is controlled and the ultrasound accompanying a small number of waves can be
transmitted, the shape of flaw echoes becomes sharp,
making it more easily separated from press-fit echoes.
It is possible to control the waveform by such methods as placing damping material at the back of the transducer or making adjustments to electrical circuit damping, but the sensitivity of the transducer decreases at the
same time. We therefore tried to increase the sensitivity
to flaw echoes in comparison with press-fit echoes by using a piezocomposite transducer that combines the
piezoceramics and a polymer (damping material) and by
making the number of accompanying waves nearly one,
as shown in Fig. 6.
The piezocomposite transducer is composed of
piezoceramics. Its edges, which are several dozen micrometers in length, are wrapped and formed by a polymer in a latticed shape. It can reduce the number of accompanying waves with minimizing the decrease in sensitivity. This transducer is flexible, can be easily formed
into any shape, and is suitable for the focal transducer
mentioned above. In addition, its acoustic characteristics are close to those of a wedge for an angle probe that
is generally made of acrylic resin, and increases the sensitivity of an angle probe in particular.

80

Fig. 6 T
ransducer types and flaw and press-fit echo
Transducer
waveforms
4.3 Piezocomposite focal probe
Figure 7 shows the piezocomposite focal probe manufactured on a trial basis, and Table 1 gives its specifications. A test piece on which several kinds of artificial
flaws were machined was prepared and tested with a ceramics probe, a piezocomposite probe and a
piezocomposite focal probe, each having a 40-degree angle
of refraction. A comparison of the heights of flaw echoes
has proved that the flaw sensitivity increased about 6 dB
when a piezocomposite probe was used instead of a ceramics one, and about 6 dB more when a focal one was
used.
Piezoceramics

Polymer

50 m

Fig. 7 Piezocomposite focal probe and its transducer

Table 1 Specifications of piezocomposite focal probe
Item
Transducer material
Transducer size
Nominal frequency
Nominal angle of refraction
Shape of contact surface

5.

Specification
Piezocomposite
15 mm x 12 mm
5 MHz
40 degrees
Cylinder of 15 mm radius

Ultrasonic test on hollow axle with small bore

diameter

5.1 T
esting equipment and test method
Testing
Figure 8 shows the ultrasonic testing equipment for
hollow axles with a small bore diameter in which a
piezocomposite focal probe with a 40-degree angle of refraction is installed. Figure 9 shows the system structure. The probe head is inserted into the bore and moved
in the axial and circumferential directions, and the ultrasound transmitted from the bore surface propagates
forward (the direction to the axle center) and backward

QR of RTRI, Vol. 46, No. 2, June. 2005

Oil pump
K

Model gear
HG F E D C

HG F E D C

100 Model wheel Bearing inner ring 100

Gear-side test zone
Counter gear-side test zone
1,000
1,000

Motor controller

(mm)

Elevator

Fig. 10 Model hollow axle with small bore diameter

Fig. 8 Ultrasonic testing equipment for hollow axles with

small bore diameter
I/O signals from motor, encoder and sensor

192

Motor

195

Gear
side
110
30

Journal bearing

150

Probe head
PC

Axle length: 1,900

Counter
gear side

150

Model axle
Flaw detector

-axis motor

To axle
Probe head

Probe
Couplant (oil)

X-axis motor
Oil pump
Flaw detection
gate output

Waveform
Flaw detector

Control signal
PC
Display
RS-232C
A/D converter board

Motor
controller

Motor controller board

Digital I/O board

Head position output

Fig. 9 Ultrasonic testing equipment system

(the direction to the axle end).

With this equipment, an ultrasonic test was carried
out on a model hollow axle with a small bore diameter
that was manufactured on a trial basis. The model axle
has artificial flaws machined in positions where cracks
may arise and is used to confirm the inspection accuracy
of the testing equipment. Figure 10 shows an outline of a
model hollow axle and Table 2 shows the positions and
shapes of 25 artificial flaws. The flaws on fitted parts
such as the position I-I were machined at a position 3
mm inside the fit edge. After artificial flaws had been
machined, a model gear and inner rings of gear bearing
were fitted on the gear side of the axle and a model wheel
and journal bearing were fitted on the counter gear side.
Table 3 shows the conditions under which automatic
testing was carried out on the model hollow axle. The
movable range of the probe head in the axial direction
was about 1,350 mm, and each half part of the axle length
was tested from both ends of the axle. The position of the
probe head and the testing sensitivity were adjusted using the 1S flaw (a square flaw of 1 mm depth) in the position D-D on the non-fitted central part. The flaw detec-

Table 2 Artificial flaws of model hollow axle with small bore diameter

Symbol

A-A
B-B
C-C
D-D
E-E
F-F
G-G
H-H
I-I
J-J
K-K

Part

Inner end of gear-side

wheelseat
Inner end of gear seat
Non-fitted central part
Non-fitted central part
Non-fitted central part
Non-fitted central part
Non-fitted central part
Non-fitted central part
Inner end of counter gearside wheelseat
Outer end of counter gearside wheelseat
Fit edge of counter gearside journal bearing

Distance
from
gear-side
axle end
[mm]

Distance
from
counter
gear-side
axle end
[mm]

EDM-machined
artificial flaw(s)

436

1464

0.3S, 0.6S, 1S; 1E

625
950
1000
1050
1100
1150
1200

1275
950
900
850
800
750
700

1464

436

1S
0.5A
1S
0.6S
0.5N
0.3S
0.15S
0.5N, 1N; 0.3S, 0.6S, 1S;
0.3E, 0.6E, 1E, 3E

1607

293

1S

1736.5

163.5

0.5N; 0.3S, 0.6S, 1S

Depth: a
Notched flaw: N

10
Depth: a
Square flaw: S
Length: 2c
Depth: a
a/2c = 0.35
Semi-elliptic flaw: E

1) The types of artificial flaws are described as A (all-round flaw), N (notched flaw), S (square flaw) and E (semi-elliptic flaw).
2) The number in front of flaw types (A, N, S, E) indicates the flaw depth [unit: mm].

QR of RTRI, Vol. 46, No. 2, June. 2005

81

Angle of refraction: 40 deg.

Axial scan pitch: 2 mm

Data recording point
Data recording pitch
in circumferential
direction: 2 degrees

W4

W3

W2

W1

Probe

Fig. 1
1 Spiral scan of probe head
11

Setting value
100-1000 mm from both axle ends
18 dB above the sensitivity of 80 % echo
height of 1S flaw on the position D-D in the
non-fitted central part
Scan of probe head
Spiral scan
Rotation speed of probe 100 rpm (maximum: 300 rpm)
head
Axial scan pitch
2 mm per one rotation
Data recording pitch in 2 degrees
circumferential direction
Trigger gate range
The range including the path length at any
position on the axle surface from the minimum
diameter (journal) to the maximum diameter
(wheelseat)
Flaw detection gate 2 mm width from the first echo that exceeded
range
the threshold level of the trigger gate
Recording information 1) The position of probe in the axial and circumferential directions
2) Maximum echo height and path length
within the range of flaw detection gate

tor amplifier gain when the echo height of this flaw was
80 percent was defined as the specified sensitivity, and
the working sensitivity was adjusted to the specified sensitivity +18 dB to compensate for the decrease of flaw
sensitivity caused by the rotation of the probe head. The
scan of the probe head was in the shape of a spiral, as
shown in Fig. 11. The axial scan pitch per one rotation
was 2 mm, the data recording pitch in the circumferential direction was 2 degrees, and the rotation speed was
100 rpm.
5.2 Flaw detection gate settings
In ultrasonic axle testing, flaw detection gates are
normally set at every test position such as a wheelseat or
a non-fitted central part, as shown in Fig. 12. Flaw detection gates are set around the calculated path length to
the axle surface where particular attention needs to be
paid, and only the waveform indicated within the gate
range provides useful information.
Figure 13 shows a waveform tested at the inner end
of the counter gear-side wheelseat (position I-I) when a
normal-type flaw detection gate is used. When this position is tested, spurious echoes from the corner of the
wheelseat and its fillet are generated in addition to the
flaw echoes, as shown in Fig. 14. Even if the flaw echo
and the spurious echo are separated, the echoes will appear simultaneously within the range of the flaw detec-

82

: Flaw detection gate (set around axle surface)

Fig. 12 Normal flaw detection gate settings
100

Spurious echo
Flaw echo

Height of spurious echo

incorrectly detected.

80
Echo height [%]

Table 3 Automatic test conditions

Item
Test zone
Working sensitivity

Center of ultrasound beam

Wi : Calculated path length to axle surface of each part

60
40 Path length of flaw
echo detected.
Flaw detection gate
at wheelseat

20
0

90
120
Path length [mm]

Fig. 13 W
aveform at position I-I
Waveform
tion gate when the difference of their path lengths is
short. In addition, the height of the spurious echo is
incorrectly detected as the echo height in the flaw detection gate if the spurious echo is more pronounced than
the flaw echo.
Therefore, as shown in Fig. 15, a trigger gate was set
in a range including the path length at any position on
the axle surface from the minimum diameter (journal) to
the maximum diameter (wheelseat). A flaw detection gate
of 2 mm width was set at the first echo that was above
the trigger gate threshold level. If we use this method,
only the flaw echo whose path length is shorter than that
of the spurious echo can be detected separately when the
flaw echo and the spurious echo appear simultaneously
at the positions where spurious echoes are generated.
The path lengths of echoes detected in scanning were
compared among the several data recording points adjoining in the circumferential direction. If there were
recording points whose path lengths varied over the range
th

ng

th

ed

le

pa

Reflection at flaw
Center of ultrasound beam

la

Reflection at
corner or fillet

cu

l
Ca

40 deg.

Ultrasound

Probe
Bore

Fig. 14 Ultrasound reflection at inner end of counter gearside wheelseat

QR of RTRI, Vol. 46, No. 2, June. 2005

5.3 T
est results
Test
Angle of refraction: 40 deg.

Probe
Center of ultrasound beam

: Trigger gate (constant in testing)

Spurious echo
Flaw echo

6. Comparison of inspection accuracy

Echo height and path

length of flaw echo
correctly detected.

Flaw detection gate

(following first wave)

Table 4 shows the minimum flaws that can be detected

at every part of an axle when axles are tested by the technique mentioned in this report, by the longitudinal wave
angle-beam technique for conventional solid axle railway
vehicles using automatic testing equipment, and by the
angle-beam hollow axle technique that also uses automatic testing equipment for Shinkansen vehicles 3).
With the ultrasonic test from a bore of 30 mm diameter machined in an axle for conventional railway vehicles,
the inspection accuracy becomes higher than was the case
in tests using the conventional technique with a longitudinal angle-beam from the end face of a solid axle. We
could therefore obtain an inspection accuracy equal to that
of hollow axles for Shinkansen vehicles.

Trigger gate

(a) Case of existing flaw echo and spurious echo

Spurious echo

Detected path lengths compared

and whether flaw echo exists or
not decided.

Echo height and path

length of spurious echo
detected.

Flaw detection gate

Figure 16 shows the results of testing the non-fitted

central part (positions from D-D to H-H) and the inner
end of the counter gear-side wheelseat (position I-I, fitted part) when the ultrasound was transmitted forward
with the probe head inserted from the axle end of the
counter gear side. This Figure shows the maximum echo
height in the flaw detection gate at every probe position
in scanning. All artificial flaws at the non-fitted central
part, and all artificial flaws except those of semi-elliptic
shape whose depth was equal to or smaller than 1 mm at
the inner end of the wheelseat, can be detected in a state
that spurious echoes are eliminated and the signal/noise
ratio is sufficiently great.

Trigger gate

(b) Case of existing spurious echo only

Fig. 15 Echo detection technique using trigger gate

of 1 mm by less than 15 degrees, it was decided that their
data contained those of flaw echoes that appeared ahead
of the spurious echoes.

7. Conclusions
On the basis of experience gained with hollow axles
that have been used on Shinkansen vehicles, a hollow axle
with a small bore diameter of 30 mm applicable to con-

Displayed range

Displayed range
Notched flaws
1 mm depth
0.5 mm depth

]
[mm

]
m
[m
ce
fa
d
osit

ion

ion

ax
le

en

tial
p

fr
om

sit
po
g.]
[de

(a) Non-fitted central part

face

Notched flaw of
1 mm depth

eren

umf

[deg

ta
nc

ial

om a

ce fr

an
Dist

nd
xle e

Echo height [%]

Circ

Square flaws
0.15 mm depth

Semi-elliptic flaw
of 3 mm depth

.]

is

t
en

0.3 mm depth

Square flaws
1 mm depth
0.6 mm depth
0.3 mm depth

er

mf
rcu

Ci

1 mm depth
0.6 mm depth

Echo height [%]

Notched flaw of
0.5 mm depth

(b) Inner end of counter gear-side wheelseat (fitted part)

Fig. 16 Ultrasonic test results of model hollow axle with small bore diameter

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83

Table 4 Comparison of inspection accuracy

Fit edge of journal bearing

Outer end of wheelseat
Inner end of wheelseat
Inner end of gear seat
Non-fitted central part

Angle-beam technique used

on 30 mm hollow axles for
conventional railway vehicles (this report)
0.3S
1S
0.3S3E
1S
0.15S

ventional railway vehicles was tested using ultrasonic

testing equipment in which a piezocomposite focal probe
with a 40-degree angle of refraction was installed. As a
result, a square-shaped artificial flaw 0.15 mm deep at
the non-fitted central part and another 0.3 mm deep at
the inner end of the wheelseat (fitted part) could be detected. By actively introducing hollow axles also into conventional railway vehicles, it would be possible to improve
the efficiency of inspections and increase the flaw detection accuracy of automatic axle inspections.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Prof. H. Toda of Wakayama
University for guiding us in the design of focal probes.

84

Longitudinal wave anglebeam technique used on solid

axles for conventional railway vehicles
1N
10N
1N
3N
3N

Angle-beam technique
used on 60 mm hollow
axles for Shinkansen vehicles
0.6S
1S
1S
1S
0.15S

References
1) Yohso, J., Sakamoto, H., Makino, K. and Ishiduka,
H., "Inspection of Rolling Stock Axles by Using the
Grazing SH-wave Ultrasonic Method (in Japanese),"
RTRI Report, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 35-40, 2002.
2) Hachiya, M., Toda, H., Murata, Y. and Yohso, J.,
"Characteristics of Ultrasonic Transducer for Bored
Type Axle (in Japanese)," Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on Ultrasonic Testing, pp. 75-76, 2002.
3) Yohso, J., "Development of Automatic Ultrasonic Testing Equipment for General and Bogie Inspection of
Shinkansen Hollow Axle," Proceedings of the 11th
International Wheelset Congress, Vol. 2, pp. 47-50,
1995.

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