Maintenance and Nondestructive Inspection of Railway Vehicles

Inspections in several levels based on the period or running mileage are performed for each of Shinkansen and the meter-gauge (conventional) railway vehicles. Nondestructive inspections such as the ultrasonic testing and the magnetic particle testing are applied to the bogie-related parts such as axles and bogie frames. In the inspection of axles, the fitting positions such as wheel seats where fretting can occur are particularly inspected depending on the type of hollow or solid axles. In the inspection of bogie frames, the magnetic particle testing is mainly applied to the surface flaw of the welded part in the periodic inspections, and the ultrasonic testing is mainly applied to the internal defect of welds at the time of manufacture.