From left to right, EUROCIVIS project researchers Javier Ros, Aitor Plaza, Xabier Iriarte, Alicia Kalms, Jokin Aginaga, Jesús Zurita and Jesús M. Pintor
Researchers at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) are working on the EUROCIVIS project, a new technology platform for suburban trains aimed at the European sector. The project falls within the remit of the INNPACTO programme of the Ministry of Finance and Competitiveness (Spain) whereby research centres and businesses work together. The general aim is to develop a new technology platform for suburban trains, with modular coaches based on new advanced technologies which are ultra-reliable, safe and with low environmental impact.
The project is being led by the Basque rolling stock manufacturers CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A.), also participating in which are CAF Research & Development, Trainelec S.L., Ikerlan S. Cooperativa and the UPNA. Initiated in June 2011, the project will terminate in March 2014 and has had a total budget of 4.4 million euros. The amount earmarked for actions undertaken by the UPNA comes to 235,523 euros.
In concrete, UPNA has been working on a series of specific objectives: increasing the reliability of equipment by reducing the probability of faults arising; increasing the safety of the trains; reducing the weight of railway vehicles and thus obtaining sustainable factors; and having available the mechanical and structural configurations capable of being adaptable to different projects.
Given that the project is based on the concept of trains with modular coaches, the importance of the links between modules is fundamental. In this sense, one of the tasks has been to thoroughly develop detailed mathematical models that enable the simulation of these links. “With these models”, explained Mr. Javier Ros, staff lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at UPNA, “we can know what the stress is in each part of the bolt, the deformations, if it is going to sear, and so on. In engineering in general, the most important component in design is safety, i.e. that nothing can fail. Then, this factor has to be combined with others such as cost, comfort, noise, energy cost and materials, etc.”.
Simulating the behaviour of the train
Model of a rear bogie and track generated within the project
Besides undertaking models of determined aspects (bolted connections, control of vibrations, shock absorbers, etc.), the researchers have developed a mathematical model enabling the monitoring of the behaviour of the train. The goal is to register what is happening while the train is in motion, for example, to avoid a wheel slipping under certain conditions or in order for the train to be more stable. Amongst the factors that can be monitored are faults on the line, the state of the wheels, the separation of the rails due to ageing or wear and tear or due to natural catastrophes such as earthquakes.
“There is another interesting element which is the concept of predictive maintenance”, pointed out Dr. Ros, “that is, elements can get damaged and where it is very difficult to know when; at times this is only realised when something breaks or when there is an accident. This is why it is always better to carry out a more precise maintenance plan which enables knowing when something is going to happen with greater probability and thus be able to take corrective measures beforehand”.
Once the mathematical model is developed, the moment arrives for testing and validating it with the real model. To this end, the researchers will be working in these final months on designing a prototype, a system that, from the perspective of the dynamic behaviour being similar to a real train carriage. “When we talk of a methodology of predictive maintenance, in order for it to be precise, the model has to be the most detailed possible, as errors can thus be better detected. But, for the model to function correctly, it has to be implemented while the train is in motion, so that decisions can be taken in real time. That is, if a vibration has been detected, the model has to make the appropriate corresponding calculations and deduce if an incident has happened or not. Moreover, we have managed to achieve a model that takes less than a millisecond for this process”.
Amongst the applications of this methodology, Mr. Ros points out that today there are special trains that are devoted to inspecting the tracks with a determined frequency, “instead of having a super-instrumentalised train, it will be possible for each train to have the capacity, on its specific route, to detect anomalies on the line and alert the maintenance services in order to deal with the problem”.
* Elhuyar translation, published in www.basqueresearch.com
