innovative materials in a sustainable freight railway. conor o’neill rail vehicles manager,...

Innovative materials in a sustainable freight railway.

Conor O’Neill

Rail Vehicles Manager, NewRail

Innotrans – Sept 2012

Materials Drivers

Application – Passenger/freight.

Design – Structural requirements.

Cost – Economic considerations.

Manufacturing – Materials availability, manufacturability.

Repair/Maintenance – In-service issues.

Recycling – End of life considerations.

Structural Materials – the choice…

Mild steel.

Aluminium alloys.

High tensile steel.

Composites.

Composite – can it be done?

Current application:

– Secondary structures, interiors.– Driver’s cab, aerodynamic cover.– Insulation.

What’s next?

– Primary structure applications.– Integrated design philosophy.– Step change in manufacturing

Composite – can it be done?

D-CAB

– EU FP6 project.– Existing design, new materials.– Fully composite.– Meets crashworthiness standards.

Full scale prototype:

– Mass saving: 40%– Part-count saving: 60%– Cost saving: 20%

Blockers… Cost

– “Composites are expensive”. Mass

– “Lightweighting is not our main priority”. Implementation

– “We’re simply not set up to adopt composites”. Mindset

– “Steel and aluminium have well documented, predictable properties and are easily designed”.

End-of life

– “How do you recycle composite materials?”

Benefits

Lightweight

– Energy reduction.– Increased load carrying capability.

– Reduced CO2 emissions.

– Reduction in wheel/rail wear.

Modular design.

– Risk sharing partners.– Interchangability.– Built-in insulation.– Complex aerodynamic structures.

A shift to freight

Increased demand to reduce the mass of rail vehicles.

Move to high speed freight?

– Faster, lighter, more aerodynamic, …

Supplier development.

– Increased use of composites.– Supply chain shift.

Back to the future?!

THANK YOU!

conor.oneill@ncl.ac.uk