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Railway technology is a specialized market with specific requirements, which result from high safety standards linked to the transportation of passengers and goods.

Technical experts with the required certifications are the basic capital of the companies operating in the rail industry. In a relatively restricted market XE "Figure4b. Usual thermography method" with a limited total volume, very high entry barriers exist. In Europe, however, with the liberalization of rail transport, companies can now access to previously closed markets.

By using thermography, it is possible to create a new and more efficient way of train wheel surface inspection and maintenance, which is necessary if we take a look at the accidents statistics resulted in the latest years. It is therefore necessary to improve the efficiency of train wheel maintenance procedures, because they have to be inspected at regular intervals for internal and surface defects. Ultrasound system is the state-of-art technology to detect internal cracks, but thermography would mean an automated method to detect surface and near surfacecracks, with a considerable lower global cost compared to other surface crack inspection methods.

External costs are a side effect of transportation, which is not internalised into the price paid by the user and is therefore not taken into account by them when they make a transport decision. Thermography makes the defect detection process more efficient, due to the fact that is an automated control process (time reduction compared to manually operated processes) and does not generate any waste in comparison with other surface inspection methods. Thermography as non-destructive method is a fast way to detect surface and near surface cracks and does not require great operator specialization because easy software is used to interpret the results.

Thermography is not only a more advanced and automated method to detect cracks, but is even faster and easier to use. By mean of an infrared camera and powerful software, the operator is able to detect surface cracks on screen, without needing new maintenance training.

Environmental benefits can be achieved because of the fact that thermography does not generate any waste, in comparison with MPI and LPI methods which generate contaminated magnetic particles and liquid; that means savings in waste treatment and time inspection. In conclusion, it is a greener and cleaner way to detect surface cracks.