Rail freight research: How market trends and customers' needs drive technology innovation

The article presents an investigation of current market trends and customers’ requirements, which have driven research aimed at developing a novel wagon concept that integrates innovative solutions relating to the identified major challenges for the freight vehicles of the future. These challenges are: i. Freight condition monitoring; ii. Lightweight wagon design; and iii. Predictive maintenance. This research was initiated by the INNOWAG project, which is funded by the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The major challenges in rail freight competitiveness relate to the increasing complexity and sophistication of supply chains, increasing transport capacity and logistic capability, as well as improving RAMS and lowering LCC. Therefore, the goal is to develop intelligent cargo monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions integrated on a novel concept of lightweight wagon

Development of a simulation tool for the dynamic analysis of railway vehicle - Track interaction

[EN] The importance of modelling and simulation in the field of railway systems has greatly increased in the last decades. Various commercial simulation packages have been developed and are used to analyse the dynamic performance of railway systems. However, although sometimes the user needs to analyse various non-standard solutions, the possibility to integrate further modifications into the structure of such software is quite limited. Therefore, in some cases, in particular for specific modelling and analysis tasks, a feasible option is to develop flexible and robust simulation tools capable of using different configurations by modifying the models performing the dynamic analysis. The paper presents the mathematical modelling background and the conceptual design of a new of a new computational tool for the dynamic simulation of railway vehicle systems. The formulations employed in the proposed mathematical model are based on the multibody techniques. The developed model uses a combined frame of references that allows the use of independent coordinates without the possibility to have singularity configurations depending on the rotation sequence. The simulation tool is designed in a flexible form that enables the study of different configurations of the railway vehicles, as well as various track combinations.Shaltout, R.; Ulianov, C.; Baeza González, LM. (2015). Development of a simulation tool for the dynamic analysis of railway vehicle - Track interaction. Transport Problems. 10:47-58. doi:10.21307/tp-2015-061S47581

Integrated concept of lightweight wagon with cargo condition monitoring capabilities and predictive maintenance solutions

The article presents a novel wagon concept that integrates innovative solutions relating to the identified major challenges for the freight vehicles of the future, namely: i. cargo condition monitoring; ii. Lightweight wagon design; and iii. Predictive maintenance. These three essential areas are addressed by three subsequent work streams of the INNOWAG project, which is funded by the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking under the EU’s H2020 programme. INNOWAG aims to respond to major rail freight competitiveness challenges regarding the increase of transport capacity, logistic capacity and improved RAMS and lower LCC, by developing an autonomous self-powered sensor system for cargo tracing and monitoring, along with a predictive maintenance approach to enable efficient use of both condition monitoring and historical data for further implementation of predictive models and tools in freight vehicle maintenance, and to integrate the aforementioned innovations on a novel concept of modular and lightweight wagon, developed through an optimised structural design using lightweight materials

3D Laser scanning technique for the inspection and monitoring of railway tunnels

Railway tunnel inspection and monitoring has predominantly been a visual and manual procedure, which is time-consuming and subjective, giving rise to variance in standards and quality. Thus, alternative, novel, automated techniques need to be developed, for more efficient and reliable tunnel examination. The reported research aimed to investigate the application of a laser scanning technique for the inspection of tunnel degradation and structural integrity. The proposed method may either substitute or supplement traditional survey techniques, being more efficient, and contributing thus to the standardisation of tunnel inspections. For the purpose of investigating the applicability and accuracy of laser scanning in tunnels, a set of tunnel lining models was constructed for laboratory tests, with the objective of determining the quality of the imaging. Initial tests were carried out using a performant laser scanner and demonstrated the feasibility of the concept. As a result, refined laboratory models were built, and experiments conducted, to establish the quality and precision of laser scanning imaging, for condition monitoring of tunnels. The experimental results indicate that the laser scanning technique used in this research has high potential for detecting the tunnel condition, monitoring the depth of weathered mortar, spalling bricks etc. with high accuracy in static scanning mode

Numerical Prediction and Corresponding Circular Economy Approaches for Resource Optimisation and Recovery of Underground Structures

AbstractThe transition from a linear economy to a circular economy is a significant component of economic, environmental and social sustainability. Underground metro infrastructures such as tunnels can play a vital role in a circular economy, resulting in greater sustainability and less contribution to climate change. This paper presents numerical models of small-scale brick-lined railway tunnels to identify the critical locations, and then proposes corresponding circular approaches and solutions for the design, maintenance, life extension and end-of-service-life (EoSL) stages of underground infrastructures. The proposed numerical model is firstly verified with respect to the relevant experimental model based on tests under various loading conditions. The results demonstrate that detailed failure processes can be realistically captured by the numerical model, while the macroscopic behaviour compares well with experimental observations. Numerical modelling and subsequent prediction stand out as a practical approach and a powerful performance-based tool for analysing the reuse/recycling potential of metro tunnels and then carrying out easy repair and design for adaptability, disassembly and recoverability of underground infrastructures for a circular economy.</jats:p

Communication platform concept for virtual testing of novel applications for railway traffic management systems

In recent years, the railway system has been facing the various challenges of the "digital age". To increase its attractiveness, capacity, sustainability, and security, it needs to improve its' everyday operational and planning process. This can be enabled using new generation digitised and automated Traffic Management Systems (TMS). Nowadays, railway dispatchers need a TMS that offers precise and real-time traffic information as fundamental condition for effective traffic management, and whose performance can be further improved by increasing availability and diversity of sources and data, for which an effective data management platform is required. The EU-funded OPTIMA project is designing and developing a communication platform to manage the connection between several services supporting TMS applications, also enabling their testing. It represents one of the steps required for the development and implementation of a new generation of TMS. This paper describes the concept for the OPTIMA platform which will link TMS applications used by railway dispatchers with infrastructure systems such as signalling and interlocking systems, maintenance, and energy management, as well as with data services (such a weather information) with the aim of providing standardised interfaces and common data structures as basis of a common and standardised communication