Enabling the Future of Railway Systems

Ready to participate?

The following will give you more information on the three tracks, that you should consider.

Problem

The challenge is to identify environmentally friendly materials for railroad sleepers with the lowest possible carbon footprint. Currently, concrete sleepers are very costly, around €50 per running meter. Alternative sleepers must have similar mechanical properties as concrete or wooden sleepers and must also be reasonably priced. In this context, sleeper manufacturers must necessarily consider the problem of CO2 reduction. The effect of such an innovative large-scale product would be greener railroad technology.

Background & Impact

Wooden sleepers are natural, yet require impregnation to achieve a proper lifespan, which is no longer acceptable for environmental reasons. Wooden sleepers are cost-effective and are poorly available. Concrete sleepers have a huge carbon footprint due to cement production and the reinforcement wires that are required to prevent cracking due to bending forces. The CO2 problem also arises with steel sleepers.

Composite sleepers built from recycled material (plastic) might be an option, but it is difficult to achieve the same strength properties as concrete or wooden sleepers. Moreover, it is necessary to take thermal expansion into account (temperature range -30 to +60 degrees Celsius) to ensure proper gauge for the railway track.

Do you want to tackle this challenge track? Find more important information here Sleeper Innovation Challenge Briefing Document

Problem

Different materials due to different baseplate sizes shall be avoid-logistic problems. Unique stiffness is to be achieved. This challenge must be met by applying one single material. At the same time, the environmental compatibility and longevity of the material is highly significant.

Thereby, such material innovations enable the railroad seat suppliers to provide more efficient and environmentally friendly traffic.

For railroad authorities, a unique stiffness distribution across turnouts would decrease wear, extend life span, reduce maintenance efforts, and consequently minimize life-cycle costs.

Background & Impact

Particularly in the design of turnouts for slab track, the different baseplate diameters lead to different sizes of elastic pads under the baseplates as well as to fluctuating stiffness over the entire turnout.

The goal is to achieve consistent elasticity (consistent deflection) over the entire track, independently of the plate size. The variation of the material would cause a logistical and economic problem.

Such pads shall be fabricated using the same material. Currently, pads are made by injection molding or extrusion (typical thickness of rail pads 5 to 6 mm, below the thickness of baseplate pads 10 to 25 mm).

A variation of the thickness is not possible due to the rail clip geometry. Currently elastic pads are mainly made of rubber or closed cell elastomers.

Do you want to tackle this challenge track? Find more important information here Elastic Elements Challenge Briefing Document

Problem

The wheel-transfer area at the crossing is one of the most loaded sectors with numerous load modes wear rolling contact fatigue, plastic material deformation, material break outs at rigid crossings. There must be a flange way (gap) in the crossing to be able to perform the transfer of the wheel from the wing rail to the crossing nose or vice versa, for that reason the bearing area is reduced.

Therefore, the overrunning process is highly dynamic and creates high loads for crossing components as well as for wheels. Because of the specific geometric shapes of the wheel (conical) and the special machining profile of the crossing, high slippage , high creep forces and high contact pressure will occur.

Maintenance intensive crossings reduce the availability of railway lines and will reduce the attractiveness for passengers to use trains and this will have negative environmental effects. New crossing materials could extend maintenance efforts and thus have positive effects to availability of railway lines and satisfied passengers.

Background & Impact

The frequency of traffic and axle loads are increasing, while the availability of operational infrastructure and the on-schedule performance of trains are becoming vitally important for rail operators.

The turnouts and particularly the crossings are the most maintenance-intensive infrastructure components of a railroad line.

Currently crossings need periodically maintenance which means grinding, built up welding (cracks, material break outs etc.), adjustment of the geometry (guard rail, gauge adjustment, bolt re-tightening or replacement).

By extending the maintenance intervals, or eliminating the need for them in some cases, the efficiency of the product would be significantly improved, and more effective operation would be ensured.

To address all related challenges, new, better materials could be valuable and beneficial by making trains more attractive and operators and manufacturers more competitive and responsive. Moreover, they also will have a positive impact on the economy, ecology and the environment.

Do you want to tackle this challenge track? Find more important information here Crossing Material Challenge Briefing Document