- Start: 01/12/2020
- End: 31/12/2022
The success of the European rail system to foster the modal shift towards rail requires cost-efficient and reliable long-lasting trains. GEARBODIES contributes to this effort by improving the efficiency of rolling stock maintenance in close collaboration with the ongoing CFM-IP1-01-2019 (PIVOT2). To achieve the above, GEARBODIES follows a twofold approach: extending overhaul periods and improving maintenance processes. The extension of overhaul periods will be facilitated by developing high-performance and long-lifetime components for running gear. The improvement of maintenance processes will be boosted by developing innovative NDT technologies to optimise inspection processes for lightweight carbody shells.
Main Innovations
GEARBODIES will design and prototype several elastomer-metal running gear components, suitable for serial production, based on high-performance new elastomer formulations and existing elastomers not yet applied in rolling stock elements. In addition, the project will also explore innovative technologies for the development of low LCC bearings. New lubrication solutions, new materials for races and rollers, novel polymers for cages and the effects of new bearing geometries will beresearched, among which the most feasible ones will be integrated in a new bearing design and prototyped. GEARBODIES will develop an innovative modular platform to reduce the inspection time of lightweight carbody shells. The platform will incorporate tailored thermography and ultrasonic inspection systems and will facilitate the automated detection and assessment of defects throughout the thickness of the shell by using a customed software module.
The GEARBODIES project will work towards the development of cost-efficient and reliable trains by contributing with specific innovations identified by the call to Technology Demonstrators (TD) of Innovation Programme 1 (IP1) within Shift2Rail, through two dedicated work streams:
• Work Stream 1 (WS1): Inspection methods for carbodies using new materials (TD1.3) which aims to develop effective and affordable solutions for inspecting carbodies that are using new lightweight materials
• Work Stream 2 (WS2): Innovative approaches for developing running gear components (TD1.4) which aims to employ innovative approaches, tools and methods for developing novel concept designs of running gear components.
Role of AIMEN
The role of AIMEN within the GEARBODIES project is to carry out the development of elastomer-based running gear components with enhanced performance, the tasks will be specifically dedicated to the formulation and development of a new elastomeric material, as well as on the development elastomer-metal interfaces by using the new developed elastomer and a novel elastomer commercially available but not used yet for running gear components and regarding the specific long-term testing of both types of elastomers and elastomer-metal interfaces specimens at lab-scale.
Also, AIMEN will collaborate in activities regarding the overview and assessment of technologies, technical solutions and use cases with the definition of requirements and specifications for the innovative technologies developed within the project; will contribute to the development of methodology for the assessment of innovative journal bearing components and to the assessment and selection of novel concepts of elastomer-based running gear components; will collaborate by approaching the investigation and development of new materials and lubrication solutions for journal bearings as well as the laboratory testing of novel concepts for journal bearings; and will be in the plan for evaluation and validation of innovative concepts of the project and prototyping and testing of novel elastomer-based running gear components.
- Sectors: Railway
- R&D&i: Materials under extreme conditions, Multimaterial systems
- Leader: EURNEX
- Partners: AIMEN Centro Tecnológico, VGTU, DICEA, Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Institute for Transport Studies - University of Leeds, AKKA I&S SAS, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UNIFE, DASEL, SACATEC
- Acronym: GEARBODIES
- Ambit: International
- Web: http://www.gearbodies.eu/
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