Ensuring and proving full functionality already during the development of rolling stock
Be it simulations of driving cycles, modeling of the wheel-rail contact, analyses of braking systems or the optimization of the traction control system – ESI ITI’s engineers provide you with engineering support throughout the entire product lifecycle of your rolling stock from safe designs to virtual testing to refitting measures. With the simulation software SimulationX, you can model rolling stock as multiphysics systems and ensure compliance with certification requirements right from the start.
Rolling stock manufacturing: market requirements and trends
During the development and operation of rolling stock, it has always been of great importance to ensure maximum traction under various operating conditions and driving scenarios. Already in the design phase, engineers must guarantee this functionality – also with respect to meeting certification requirements for their vehicles.
Certain design and calculation tasks from the area of drive and braking systems, for example, are moving more and more to the bidding stage, which means extra effort for manufacturers. The prospective operators, for example, demand at this point already rather close predictions about fuel and energy consumption for the intended application scenarios with a suitable vehicle concept.
Besides functional and safety related properties, the international competition between manufacturers of rolling stock commands further purchase criteria for railway vehicles that differ from application scenario to application scenario (regional transport vs long-distance transport, public transport or freight transport). Such criteria may even contradict each other – for instance, homogenization of a fleet versus purpose-specific modifications.
Requirements for manufacturers of rolling stock
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Comply with strict legal requirements
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Meet required journey times for certain route profiles through appropriate traction
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Identify and eradicate weak points
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Prevent expensive and time-consuming revisions of already certified vehicles
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Reduce specific energy consumption and make use of alternative energy resources
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Control and optimize vehicle dynamics of entire trains
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Develop, test and implement cutting-edge technologies (e.g. recuperation, hybridization, start-stop systems)
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Safeguard economical saving effects already during the development
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Meet the customer’s target for operating costs
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Run simple and quick variation calculations
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Master the growing complexity of railway vehicles
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Handle cost and time pressure in the development of rolling stock with ease
Requirements for operators and leasing companies of rolling stock
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Maximum transport performance
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High energy efficiency and CO2-free development of vehicles
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Efficient operation
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Reduced noise emissions
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Guaranteed tact times
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Low lifecycle costs (LCC)
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Safeguarding vital vehicle parameters, such as reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)
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High level of flexibility in the fleet operation by homogenization (long-distance traffic, freight transport)
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Optimal efficiency by adapting the vehicle to the intended route (regional transport)
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Economical modernization of existing fleets
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Analyzing anomalies in the fleet operation fast and reliably
Efficient development of rolling stock
Engineers at Alstom analyze already at early stages of the design phase the detailed interactions between vehicle dynamics and traction through wheel-rail contact and optimize drive and suspension systems of railway vehicles. At Siemens, engineers increase the energy efficiency of their motors by optimizing heat dissipation with multiphysics system simulation. Different use cases that have one thing in common: a simulation solution provided by ITI. Make your product development more efficient! Bring your vehicles to fruition even faster and ensure an early product maturity that fully meets certification and safety requirements. From various projects, we know the particular requirements and can find the right solution for you. Find out more about ESI ITI engineering services.