The Rolling Stock Innovation Centre Universities and Industry working together to deliver the next generation of railway vehicles Part of the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) The University of Huddersfield Institute of Railway Research The University of Newcastle NEWRAIL and the Design Unit Loughborough University Control Systems Group
2 Introduction The remit of the centre The Rolling Stock Innovation Centre aims to meet the current and future demands of the GB Rail Industry for Research and Innovation to support the next generation of Railway Vehicles. The Centre will link with other centres in the UKRRIN Network to provide a one stop shop for all rolling stock development. The Centre will be integrated into the UKRRIN and will focus on the major themes of Reduced Whole Life Cost vehicles and Future Low Energy vehicles. Overview of the Reduced Whole Life Cost theme: A major challenge to the railways in the UK and Europe is to accommodate the agreed requirements for modal shift from road to rail. A big factor in this is the competitiveness of the railway system and to support this the Rolling Stock Innovation Centre will explore a wide range of innovative technologies applied to the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of railway vehicles. A key aim is to develop new components and vehicles that are designed for low maintenance, high reliability and have integrated monitoring and smart maintenance as part of the vehicle design. Overview of the Future Low Energy Vehicle theme: The energy performance of railway systems is an essential factor in maintaining the overall sustainability of the network. Although railways have a number of inherent advantages these are in danger of being eroded by rapid technological developments in other modes. The Rolling Stock Innovation Centre will facilitate research into a wide range of energy optimisation techniques and will provide a test bed for innovations aimed at reducing carbon emissions and improving sustainability. The work of the Centre will support the Four Cs of the Rail Technical Strategy. In particular the research will lead to innovations that will reduce Cost and Carbon emissions. The Centre will also support research in several key areas of the RSG Fast Track to the Future vision including contributions to three of the five key technology areas: High value Rolling Stock systems Lightweighting Propulsion systems Whole life asset optimisation and through life management Remote condition monitoring Asset management systems Simulation and synthetics Energy management Energy storage Energy systems management
4 What will you see when you step inside and connect with the Centre? The detailed activities undertaken by the Centre will be shaped by the needs of the industry partners. The following interconnected facilities will provide world class research infrastructure that has the flexibility to support emerging research priorities in the following key areas: The Traction and braking facility: As a result of RGF funding the University of Huddersfield has a full-scale bogie rolling contact, adhesion and braking test rig. The rig allows testing at 25t axle load and 200km/h under controlled adhesion conditions in traction or braking. The team at Huddersfield is also developing mathematical models of train braking systems to improve braking performance in low adhesion conditions. Further infrastructure will be added to develop the facility at Huddersfield to allow evaluation of train braking systems but also the capability to test drivetrain and gearbox sub-systems to improve performance and reliability under the unique and demanding GB operating conditions. The Structural integrity and crashworthiness facility: The Rolling Stock Innovation Centre will include equipment able to test structures at the component level under both static and dynamic multi-axial loads, to simulate service conditions. An impact test machine will be set up at Newcastle University to allow assessment of structural response (at component level) under highly dynamic loading conditions. Accelerated testing will be possible as well as the assessment of interactions between components under realistic conditions. Developments in materials and manufacturing techniques have the potential to deliver significant weight reductions and improvements in performance and through life costs. However, in order to move towards virtual certification of composite Rolling Stock cabs, bodyshells and structural components, there are certain practical tests that need to be performed in order to provide confidence in the composite or hybrid (joined metal/composite structures) alternatives. In addition, appropriate inspection techniques will be needed to ensure the quality and consistency of the composite or hybrid structures. The emerging knowledge will be used to inform the development of appropriate standards for the new materials and processes. The Pantograph Interaction Dynamics and Aerodynamics Testing Facility With a strategic GB vision to increase electrification of existing railway lines and adoption of high speed electric trains, recent studies commissioned by RSSB have identified a lack of GB expertise in the research and development of improved railway pantograph systems and the overhead line. The Rolling Stock Centre will provide a unique full-scale pantograph dynamic test rig with hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) facility for determination of vehicle and OHL dynamic interaction forces and state of the art mathematical simulation tools including access to and development of the University of Huddersfield s OVERHEAD pantograph dynamics software package. A large scale cross-section climatic wind tunnel will allow evaluation of aerodynamics forces and environmental impacts for Rolling Stock related components including pantographs, full cab sections and associated critical components such as windscreen wipers, and other ancillary equipment and interfaces whose performance is influenced by airflow around the train. To support the specific needs of rail traction gearboxes, a facility will be set up at Newcastle for evaluating full-scale running transmission systems, under load, in realistic environments. A state of the art facility to accommodate transmissions allowing them to be run under controlled speed and load conditions using efficient power recirculation will be designed and built. The testing would be run in an environmental chamber to enable realistic operating climatic conditions (-30 o C to +50 o C) to be evaluated. Advanced control and instrumentation will provide the ability to operate defined duty cycle testing with detailed monitoring of running conditions and identification of failure processes.
6 7 The Flexible Hardware in the Loop (HiL) Facility The Loughborough team bring expertise and capability in control, mechatronics and HIL that doesn t exist as a primary skill elsewhere in the partnership. We will establish a hardware-in-the-loop laboratory for rail, which will be unique in Europe. It will be linked in real-time via high-speed internet to the Huddersfield and Newcastle facilities. The facility will be focused around a full system simulation model, using multi-body dynamic simulation package through which passive and active elements from the physical demonstrators will interact with (i.e. co-simulation or hardware-in-the-loop). The physical parts of the facilities will occupy an adaptable floor space and consist of giant mechano that can anchor a variety of flexible test rigs and actuator systems. This can be configured to operate multiple hardware-in-theloop test environments and will provide the opportunity for: vehicle systems demonstrators, interface systems demonstrators (and, linked through the Infrastructure Centre, mechatronic switch demonstrators). The aim is for the testing infrastructure to be flexible, allowing it to be reconfigured to meet the emerging needs of new industrial R&D concepts and emerging research projects allowing a pipeline of testing radical new ideas, and further development and testing. Our existing expertise The Centre combines and builds on the expertise of three of the leading Railway Research Universities in the UK. It brings together the Institute of Railway Research at the University of Huddersfield, the Centre for Railway Research (Newrail) and the Design Unit at Newcastle University, and the Control Systems Group at the University of Loughborough. The combined facilities and scientific expertise of these teams will enable the creation of a Centre of Excellence of unrivalled capabilities in railway research with worldwide reach and forming the largest such facility in Europe dedicated to promoting innovation in Rolling Stock. The Centre will provide existing and new facilities based at the University of Huddersfield with linked supporting facilities at the Universities of Newcastle and Loughborough. Benefits of collaboration with the centre: The UK research base is well recognised internationally for its innovation and expertise in all aspects of rolling stock design and this is manifested by their highly successful presence in international research consortia and attraction of consultancy contracts from the UK and abroad. However, this is currently fragmented in various Universities around the UK and opportunities to exploit further this knowledge are often lost. The Centre will support the UK rail industry in developing innovative products and solutions to increase the performance, efficiency, reliability and competitiveness of rolling stock. Collaboration with the Centre will save industry time and effort in finding the specific expertise needed, have available at their disposal one of the most up to date test facilities dedicated to rolling stock development and access to a broad base of internationally recognised scientists and engineers with many years experience in the rail industry.
Designed and printed by Business Engagement Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom www.birmingham.ac.uk Contact us For further information or to express interest in the Rolling Stock Innovation Centre please contact: Simon Iwnicki Director of the Institute of Railway Research University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH Telephone 01484 473 731 Mobile 07581 415 992 s.iwnicki@hud.ac.uk www.hud.ac.uk/irr For further information on the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network please contact: Richard Fox Business Engagement Partner University of Birmingham Tel: 0121 414 8921 Email: ukrrin@contacts.bham.ac.uk 14358 University of Birmingham 2016. Printed on a recycled grade paper containing 100% post-consumer waste.