S.A.F.T.
Ultrasonic inspection technology based on Synthetic Aperture Focussing Technique (SAFT), to facilitate full volume inspection of in-service high manganese railway crossings. The primary difference between SAFT technology compared with other existing in-service inspection techniques is that it facilitates sub-surface inspection, allowing for flaws in critical regions to be detected at a much earlier stage of their growth cycle. If track operators/maintainers can detect flaws at an early stage in their growth cycle, they can be monitored, routinely assessed and repaired leading to increased levels of safety and reduced costs for rail operators and their customers.
Presently, ultrasonic methods are not used by rail operators to inspect high manganese crossings as the coarse grain structure causes large amounts of beam scatter, causing issues associated with poor signal to noise ratio, sensitivity and false calls. The SAFT technique, allows large 2D matrix arrays to be generated from a much smaller aperture transducer. This approach combined with low frequency ultrasonics, significantly reduces coherent noise emanating from the grain structure allowing for acceptable SNR and sensitivity to be realised by rail operators.
DEMOS
The best way to understand the technology is to see it live. We will be posting our tradeshows schedule to welcome everyone to come along and understand the benefits.