Cegelec has been entrusted at the end of 2008 with nine additional Shuttle systems, its wheel set axle inspection equipment, for Deutsche Bahn's ICE high speed trains.
Wheel set axles of fast trains are regularly inspected for defects caused by stresses applied during operation. Most of these axles have a central bore with 30 to 90 mm in diameter which allows access with ultrasonic testing probes for the inspection of these defects. Until the end of last decade, these inspections were manually performed in a very time consuming process.
In order to reduce the inspection time and to exclude the human factor, Deutsche Bahn was looking for a reliable and efficient inspection equipment, which Cegelec's non destructive testing equipment division will provide. The automatic scan takes 10 mn compared with an inspection time of more than two hours for the manual inspection.