Germany: GHH-Valdunes Group Expands Its Testing Capabilities Through Cooperation with DB Systemtechnik GmbH

As a part of an ever shorter product development cycle, along with rising demands for the verification of the mechanical properties of wheels and wheel sets, GHH-Valdunes Group is announcing that it is making further investments into its product testing capabilities.

GHH-Valdunes has recently built a new metallurgical testing center on its site in Valenciennes, France in 2011. This carries out the mechanical and technological quality assurance, for forged and heat-treated wheels as well as rolled axles, according to the last state of the art technology.

Being a leading European manufacturer of wheels, axles, and wheel sets for the rail industry, GHH-Valdunes has now won the trust of the DB Systemtechnik GmbH as a certified partner, allowing them to expand their expertise in this area.

The cooperation between GHH-Valdunes and the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary, DB Systemtechnik GmbH started on Aug. 1.

The core of the contract contains a provision allowing for fatigue tests of axles and wheels on a rotating bending test system. Furthermore, an agreement has been made for a close technical cooperation between the two parties to experimentally verify crack propagation in axles in order to determine optimised inspection intervals for axles in service. This service of GHH-Valdunes was specifically established to enable rotating bending tests to be conducted year round.

Through the cooperation, GHH-Valdunes hopes it will facilitate for its customers better planning of the business registration and a deepening business relationship with the experts at DB Systemtechnik.

This contract reinforces the long-standing, successful partnership and provides a long -term and continuous cooperation between GHH-Valdunes and DB Systemtechnik.