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