scholarly journals Analysis of design and performance of tram-train profiles for dual-operation running

Author(s):  
D Crosbee ◽  
PD Allen ◽  
R Carroll

This article explores the design of a new wheel profile which can be used in a tram-train vehicle. A tram-train is a dual-mode vehicle that operates on two very different railway infrastructures: as a tram on light rail infrastructure and as a conventional train on heavy rail infrastructure. The challenges of wheel–rail interface have been highlighted and discussed, and the analysis and design process required to develop an optimised wheel profile for dual-operation running have been presented. One of the key issues in developing a dual-operation wheel profile was managing the contact conditions within the wheel–rail interface. The interface is critical not only to the safe running of the vehicle but also to maximise asset life and to minimise wheel–rail damage. A combination of vehicle dynamic simulations and bespoke software was used to allow the development of a new wheel profile for tram-train operations.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ziqiang Xu ◽  
Gen Zhang ◽  
Hong Xia ◽  
Meijuan Xu

Hexagonal dual-mode cavity and its application to substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) filter are presented. The hexagonal SIW resonator which can combine flexibility of rectangular cavity and performance of circular cavity is convenient for dual-mode bandpass filters design. By introducing coupling between source and load, the filter not only has good selectivity due to two controllable transmission zeros, but also has a small size by the virtue of its single-cavity structure. A demonstration filter with a center frequency of 10 GHz and a 3 dB fractional bandwidth of 4% is designed and fabricated to validate the proposed structure. Measured results are in good agreement with simulated ones.


Author(s):  
J. William Vigrass ◽  
Andrew K. Smith

Great Britain and France have experienced a dramatic resurgence of light rail in the past two decades. Beginning in the early 1980s, following a 30-year abandonment of street railways in favor of motorbuses, cities in both countries developed new light rail transit systems as a response to declining transit ridership, faded downtowns in need of revitalization, and the high construction costs of heavy rail and metro. Britain and France have pursued greatly different approaches to the implementation of light rail. The purpose of this paper is to point out these differences and, through the use of case studies, draw conclusions as to the efficacy of each approach. A few cities in each country were studied with secondary sources. Commonality within each country was observed with great divergence between the two countries. In Britain, the requirements for light rail are onerous: a specific act of Parliament is needed for each new start. Each system must achieve full recovery of operating and maintenance costs and contribute toward capital investment while competing against unregulated buses. That some British systems have been built and successfully attract traffic is to the credit of their proponents. France has a more uniform approach published in government circulars. All French cities of substantial size must have a “versement transportes,” a 1% to 2% tax on salaries and wages dedicated to regulated and coordinated public transport. French new starts, which have no need to attain 100% cost recovery (the versement transportes covers operating losses), have been implemented in about half the time of those in Britain.


Author(s):  
Carlos Casanueva ◽  
Per-Anders Jönsson ◽  
Sebastian Stichel

Wheel profile evolution has a large influence on track and wheelset related maintenance costs. It influences important parameters such as equivalent conicity or contact point positioning, which will affect the dynamic behavior of the vehicle, in both tangent track and curve negotiation. High axle loads in freight wagons may increase both the wheel wear and the damage caused by vehicles with both new and already worn profiles. A common profile in Europe is the S1002 profile, developed for rail inclination 1/40. In Sweden rail inclination is 1/30, so contact conditions might not be optimal. The presented work uses Archard’s wear law to analyze the profile wear evolution in a two axle freight vehicle with Unitruck running gear on the Swedish network. This wear calculation methodology has been successfully used to predict uniform wear in passenger vehicles. First, the vehicle model has been optimized in order to improve the speed of the wear simulations. Experimental measurements of wheel profiles have been performed in order to validate the simulations. The conclusion is that the wear methodology successfully used to predict uniform wheel wear in passenger vehicles cannot be directly applied for the calculation of wheel profile evolution in high tonnage freight vehicles. The influence of block brakes or switches and crossings cannot be dismissed when calculating uniform wheel wear in these cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 8188
Author(s):  
Marcel Topler ◽  
Boštjan Polajžer

This article examines the mechanisms for cross-border interchange of the regulating reserves (RRs), i.e., the imbalance-netting process (INP) and the cross-border activation of the RRs (CBRR). Both mechanisms are an additional service of frequency restoration reserves in the power system and connect different control areas (CAs) via virtual tie-lines to release RRs and reduce balancing energy. The primary objective of the INP is to net the demand for RRs between the cooperating CAs with different signs of interchange power variation. In contrast, the primary objective of the CBRR is to activate the RRs in the cooperating CAs with matching signs of interchange power variation. In this way, the ancillary services market and the European balancing system should be improved. However, both the INP and CBRR include a frequency term and thus impact the frequency response of the cooperating CAs. Therefore, the impact of the simultaneous operation of the INP and CBRR on the load-frequency control (LFC) and performance is comprehensively evaluated with dynamic simulations of a three-CA testing system, which no previous studies investigated before. In addition, a function for correction power adjustment is proposed to prevent the undesirable simultaneous activation of the INP and CBRR. In this way, area control error (ACE) and scheduled control power are decreased since undesired correction is prevented. The dynamic simulations confirmed that the simultaneous operation of the INP and CBRR reduced the balancing energy and decreased the unintended exchange of energy. Consequently, the LFC and performance were improved in this way. However, the impact of the INP and CBRR on the frequency quality has no unambiguous conclusions.


Author(s):  
Nazrul Islam

This chapter aims to provide a new readiness matrix called ‘innovative manufacturing readiness levels (IMRLs)’ to evaluate and assess the areas of micro and nanotechnology maturity including their performance. The study employs a case study approach through which the practicability and applicability of the IMRLs conceptual matrix were verified and confirmed. A case study with laser-based manufacturing technologies explores the stages of micro and nano technologies (MNTs)’ maturity, including the key issues and performances that contributed to the development of a new assessment tool. Concerning intense global R&D competition in MNTs, this study exhibits a forward-looking approach in assessing MNTs maturity and performance. A generic conclusion is reached by which product designers and technology managers position themselves and take into account risk reduction exercises related to MNTs. The novelty of the research could be that organizations, which develop and use MNTs, have an opportunity in applying such a specific assessment matrix to quantify the technology readiness of unreleased MNTs.


Author(s):  
Sara Moridpour ◽  
Ehsan Mazloumi ◽  
Reyhaneh Hesami

The increase in number of passengers and tramcars will wear down existing rail structures faster. This is forcing the rail infrastructure asset owners to incorporate asset management strategies to reduce total operating cost of maintenance whilst improving safety and performance. Analysing track geometry defects is critical to plan a proactive maintenance strategy in short and long term. Repairing and maintaining the correctly selected tram tracks can effectively reduce the cost of maintenance operations. The main contribution of this chapter is to explore the factors influencing the degradation of tram tracks (light rail tracks) using existing geometric data, inspection data, load data and repair data. This chapter also presents an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) model to predict the degradation of tram tracks. Predicting the degradation of tram tracks will assist in understanding the maintenance needs of tram system and reduce the operating costs of the system.


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