AXLES USING NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
A company for the maintenance of railway vehicles in Slovenia carried out, in collaboration with the Institute of Metal Structures (IMK), Ljubljana, testing and relevant analyses of the state of carriage axles. In order to detect cracks at carriage axles and to evaluate the quality of axles surfaced, ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing methods were used. Ultrasonic testing with normal and angle probes was used to detect internal cracks in the carriage axles using the distance gain size (DGS) diagram and the distance amplitude correction (DAC) method for reference specimens. Additionally, the magnetic particle testing method, with an apparatus permitting the detection of transverse and longitudinal cracks, was used to search for surface cracks. The tests performed at numerous railway carriages provided results, which make it possible to predict a premature axle fracture in further service. The non-destructive testing methods used permitted the detection of the cracks present, causes for the crack initiation were established, and the risks of crack propagation were evaluated. A critical evaluation of the carriage axles in terms of crack initiation and size is given. The prediction of the remaining life of an axle with reference to the potential propagation of the existing cracks is given taking into account the load axle acting on the axle and the axle age.
Ultrasonic testing of railway axles with the phased array technique : experience during operation
The increasing use of high-speed trains, resulting in higher stress to the material and serious accidents with human injuries in the past, lead to a demand for shorter inspection intervals, extended scope of inspection and more stringent test requirements to be applied to the critical components. One component, which is inspected in regular intervals, is the axle of the railway wheel set. Critical areas for cracks are mainly the wheel and brake disc seats and the cross section transition areas. The manual ultrasonic inspection of used axles by experienced personal is time-consuming (since several sound beam angles have to be used to cover the complete test area), expensive and, of course, subjective. It represents a bottleneck in the inspection line. One way to overcome this bottleneck is the automation of the test process and the use of phased array probes. GE Inspection Technologies, in co-operation with the German railways (DB) and the 'Bundesanstalt fur Materialprufung'(BAM), developed a system to automate this inspection. This system applies the phased array technique to detect transversal cracks in the most critical areas of the axle. The different angles of several conventional probes are replaced by steering the beam angle of one phased array probe accordingly. Mechanical movement is substituted by software control. Two of these automated systems have been delivered to the German Railways. When taking these systems into operation, several problems arose, caused by the variety of the axles, coupling surface conditions and differences in the sound attenuation even within the axle. This paper describes the technical concept and reports some practical experience, problems and solutions in the commissioning phase of the automatic inspection lines.
Professional support in rural New South Wales: perceptions of new graduate occupational therapists.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the experiences of professional support among new graduates working in rural New South Wales, including the current availability of professional support and the impact of support levels on professional practice.


DESIGN
Qualitative, using semistructured face-to-face or telephone interviews.


SETTING
New graduate occupational therapists employed in public and private hospitals and community health services in rural New South Wales.


SUBJECTS
Nine new graduate occupational therapists within their first year of practice.


MAIN OUTCOME
A description of participant experiences of professional support and strategies to enhance the recruitment and retention of occupational therapists in rural areas.


RESULTS
Participants reported varied experiences of professional support and emphasised the importance of having access to a wide variety of resources. Participants highlighted that professional support could assist in developing independence and other skills. However, ultimately a lack of support resulted in decreased confidence and subsequent decreased job satisfaction among participants.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that greater effort should be directed to ensuring that all new graduates have access to professional support, including structured supervision, and that strategies be explored and adopted to ensure that this occurs.