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Rail Inspection
Rail inspection is the practice of examining rail tracks for flaws that could lead to catastrophic failures. According to the United States Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis, track defects are the second leading cause of accidents on railways in the United States. The leading cause of railway accidents is attributed to human error. The contribution of poor management decisions to rail accidents caused by infrequent or inadequate rail inspection is significant but not reported by the FRA, only the NTSB. Every year, North American railroads spend millions of dollars to inspect the rails for internal and external flaws. Nondestructive testing (NDT) methods are used as preventive measures against track failures and possible derailment. History The first rail inspections were done visually and with the Oil and Whiting Method (an early form of Liquid Penetrant Inspection). Many sources cite that the need for better rail inspections came after a derailment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sperry Rail Service 141 E
Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: *Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County *Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County *Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana *Sperry Glacier, located in Glacier National Park in the state of Montana *William Miller Sperry Observatory or Sperry Observatory, an astronomical observatory owned by Union County College and operated by Amateur Astronomers, Incorporated on Union County College on their Cranford, New Jersey campus Sperry Corporation *Sperry Corporation, a former American equipment and electronics manufacturer (1910–1986) **Sperry Gyroscope Company (1910–1933), founded by Elmer Ambrose Sperry ***Lawrence Sperry Aircraft Company (1918–1924), founded by Lawrence Sperry **Sperry Corporation, 1933–1955 **Sperry Rand, 1955–1978 **Sperry Corporation, 1978–1986 *''Honeywell v. Sperry Rand'', a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engineering is the field dedicated to controlling and preventing corrosion. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metal in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen, hydrogen, or hydroxide. Rusting, the formation of red-orange iron oxides, is a well-known example of electrochemical corrosion. This type of corrosion typically produces oxides or salts of the original metal and results in a distinctive coloration. Corrosion can also occur in materials other than metals, such as ceramics or polymers, although in this context, the term "degradation" is more common. Corrosion degrades the useful properties of materials and structures including mechanical strength, appearance, and permeability to liquids and ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inspection Car
A speeder (also known as a section car, railway motor car, putt-putt, track-maintenance car, crew car, jigger, trike, quad, trolley, inspection car, or draisine) is a small railcar used around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move quickly to and from work sites. Although slow compared to a train or car, it is called ''speeder'' because it is faster than a human-powered vehicle such as a handcar. Motorized inspection cars date back to at least 1895, when the Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company started building gasoline-engined inspection cars. In the 1990s, many speeders were replaced by pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles with additional flanged wheels that could be lowered for travelling on rails, called " road–rail vehicles" or hi-rails for "highway-railroad". Speeders are collected by hobbyists, who refurbish them for excursions organized by the North American Railcar Operators Association in the U.S. and Canada and the Australian Society of Section Car O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eurozone. ** Adam Air Flight 574, en route to Manado, Indonesia, from Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia, crashes into the Makassar Strait; killing all 102 on board. * January 4 – Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the United States House of Representatives. * January 8 – Russian oil supplies to Poland, Germany, and Ukraine are cut as the 2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute, Russia–Belarus energy dispute escalates; they are restored three days later. * January 9 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone (1st generation), iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco, starting the new era of smartphones with this invention. * January 30 – Windows Vista is released to consumers by Microsoft. * January 31 – B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Push Trolley
A handcar (also known as a pump trolley, pump car, rail push trolley, push-trolley, jigger, Kalamazoo, velocipede, gandy dancer cart, platelayers' cart, draisine, or railbike) is a railroad car powered by its passengers or by people pushing the car from behind. It is mostly used as a railway maintenance of way or mining car, but it was also used for passenger service in some cases. Design and function A typical design consists of an arm, called the walking beam, that pivots seesaw-like on a base, which the passengers alternately push down and pull up to move the car. An even simpler design is pushed by two or four people (called trolleymen), with hand brakes to stop the trolley. When the trolley slows down, two trolleymen jump off the trolley and push it till it picks up speed. Then they jump into the trolley again, and the cycle continues. The trolleymen take turns in pushing the trolley to maintain the speed and avoid fatigue. Four people also required to safely lift the trol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EMAT
An electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) is a transducer for non-contact acoustic wave generation and reception in conducting materials. Its effect is based on electromagnetic mechanisms, which do not need direct coupling with the surface of the material. Due to this couplant-free feature, EMATs are particularly useful in harsh, i.e., hot, cold, clean, or dry environments. EMATs are suitable to generate all kinds of waves in metallic and/or magnetostrictive materials. Depending on the design and orientation of coils and magnets, shear horizontal (SH) bulk wave mode (norm-beam or angle-beam), surface wave, plate waves such as SH and Lamb waves, and all sorts of other bulk and guided-wave modes can be excited. After decades of research and development, EMAT has found its applications in many industries such as primary metal manufacturing and processing, automotive, railroad, pipeline, boiler and pressure vessel industries, in which they are typically used for nondestructive te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Flux Leakage
Magnetic flux leakage (TFI or Transverse Field Inspection technology) is a magnetic method of nondestructive testing to detect corrosion and pitting in steel structures, for instance: pipelines and storage tanks. The basic principle is that the magnetic field "leaks" from the steel at areas where there is corrosion or missing metal. To magnetize the steel, a powerful magnet is used. In an MFL (or Magnetic Flux Leakage) tool, a magnetic detector is placed between the poles of the magnet to detect the leakage field. Analysts interpret the chart recording of the leakage field to identify damaged areas and to estimate the depth of metal loss. Introduction to pipeline examination There are many methods of assessing the integrity of a pipeline. In-line-Inspection (ILI) tools are built to travel inside a pipeline and collect data as they go. Magnetic Flux Leakage inline inspection tool (MFL-ILI) has been in use the longest for pipeline inspection. MFL-ILIs detect and assess areas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermite Welding
Exothermic welding, also known as exothermic bonding, thermite welding (TW), and thermit welding, is a welding process that employs molten metal to permanently join the conductors. The process employs an exothermic reaction of a thermite composition to heat the metal, and requires no external source of heat or current. The chemical reaction that produces the heat is an aluminothermic reaction between aluminium powder and a metal oxide. Overview In exothermic welding, aluminium dust reduces the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide, because aluminium is highly reactive. Iron(III) oxide is commonly used: :\mathrm The products are aluminium oxide, free elemental iron, and a large amount of heat. The reactants are commonly powdered and mixed with a binder to keep the material solid and prevent separation. Commonly the reacting composition is five parts iron oxide red (rust) powder and three parts aluminium powder by weight, ignited at high temperatures. A strongly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiography
Radiography is an imaging technology, imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical ("diagnostic" radiography and "therapeutic radiography") and industrial radiography. Similar techniques are used in airport security, (where "body scanners" generally use backscatter X-ray). To create an image in conventional radiography, a beam of X-rays is produced by an X-ray generator and it is projected towards the object. A certain amount of the X-rays or other radiation are absorbed by the object, dependent on the object's density and structural composition. The X-rays that pass through the object are captured behind the object by a X-ray detector, detector (either photographic film or a digital detector). The generation of flat two-dimensional images by this technique is called Projection radiography, projectional radiography. In computed tomography (C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Particle Inspection
file:Wet magnetic particle testing on a pipeline.jpg, A technician performs MPI on a pipeline transport, pipeline to check for stress corrosion cracking using what is known as the "black on white" method. No indications of cracking appear in this picture; the only marks are the "footprints" of the magnetic yoke and drip marks. file:Stress corrosion cracking revealed by magnetic particles.JPG, A close-up of the surface of a (different) pipeline showing indications of stress corrosion cracking (two clusters of small black lines) revealed by MPI. Cracks that would normally have been invisible are detectable due to the magnetic particles clustering at the crack openings. The scale at the bottom is numbered in centimeters. Magnetic particle inspection (MPI) is a nondestructive testing process where a magnetic field is used for detecting surface, and shallow subsurface, discontinuities in ferromagnetic materials. Examples of ferromagnetic materials include iron, nickel, cobalt, and some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
