Fr8Rail-2 Digitalization and Automation of Freight Rail (CHARMEC EU20)

Research Project, 2018 – 2020

The Fr8Rail-2 project (S2R-CFM-IP5-01-2018) is a project within the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme under the Shift2Rail Joint Technology Initiative. The ten work packages (WP) in Fr8Rail-2 are WP1 Wagon Design & Automatic Coupling, WP2 Wagon Intelligence, WP3 Real-time network management and improved methods for timetable planning, WP4 Connected Driver Advisory Systems (C-DAS), WP5 Freight Automation, WP6 Freight Propulsion, WP7 Long Trains, WP8 Conditioned Based Maintenance, WP9 Project Management and, finally, WP10 Dissemination. CHARMEC is only involved in WP1.

In Fr8Rail-2, single-axle freight wagons with wheel-mounted brake discs will be employed. Wheels on such wagons are traditionally dimensioned with respect to mechanical loads only. The aim is to investigate whether the design process should include also the themal loading on the wheel web from the brake discs. The study is essential for avoiding the risk of later requirements for short inspection intervals, etc. The study will build on previous work at CHARMEC, in which material damage and fatigue life have been calculated for wheel webs of tread braked metro wheels. To this end, stresses and strains were studied as resulting from mechanical loads, emanating from the wheel-rail contact, and from thermal loads, stemming from the frictional contact between brake blocks and wheel tread. Similarly, the impact from wheel mounted brake discs on the damage and life of the the wheel web will here be studied using numerical models. Thus, the impact from elevated temperatures and pertaining stresses and strains of the wheel web during disc braking will be investigated.