Bombardier Transportation GmbH predicts wheel wear with VI-grade railway solutions
The company, that covers the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signalling, will use VI-Rail specifically for wear simulations. In particular the company is using the brand new VI-Rail Wear and Stress Toolkit available with the latest VI-Rail version and developed in collaboration with ArgeCare (Walter Kik), with the objective of designing low – or virtually zero – maintenance vehicles.
Click below for an extended video interview to Fon Azobi, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer – Bogies, Bombardier Transportation GmbH.
“The growing need for simulation is always going to be a big player in the rail industry and one of the aspects that’s been a major player in recent times is the wheel-rail interaction,” says Fon Azobi, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer– Bogies, Bombardier Transportation GmbH. “We have different simulation packages for different applications and we use VI-Rail specifically for wear simulations. The software is very easy to use and the simulation speeds are actually very high. Through detailed wear prediction simulation, we aim to increase the life time of our wheels, in order to obtain a lower total cost of ownership of our products, which is a unique advantage that we can offer to our customers”.
“We are extremely happy to report this important success in the railway industry,” says Guido Bairati, International Sales Director, VI-grade. “This demonstrates the efficiency of our development strategies, always looking for new features demanded by the market. We are looking forward to expanding the usage of our solutions for wear and stress predictions within Bombardier Transportation and other major railway companies!”
About VI-Rail
VI-Rail is the specialized railway simulation software from VI-grade. VI-Rail enables to quickly build a complete, parameterized model of a new railway vehicle, easily define its suspension, wheelset, wheel-rail contact, and other vital characteristics. Running through a battery of simulations it is possible to determine the vehicle’s stability, derailment safety clearance, track load, passenger comfort, and more. The performance of a railway vehicle design can be optimized virtually in the computer, before cutting a single piece of metal or running a single physical test. VI-Rail users can instantly see the effects of design changes on railcar performance in high-speed animation, easily detecting component interferences, excessive wear, instability, and performance limitations. Users can also plot key parameters in graphs to compare results from different designs.
About Bombardier Transportation
As the world’s only manufacturer of planes and trains, Bombardier has built an extensive and diverse portfolio of winning mobility solutions. Everywhere people travel by land and in the air, a Bombardier product is ready to transport them. From category-defining business jets and commercial aircraft designed for the challenges of today, to sleek high speed trains and public transit that’s smarter than ever. The company focuses on making mobility more efficient, sustainable and inviting than ever before (The Evolution of Mobility). Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada, traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indices. With 63 production and engineering sites in 26 countries and 19 service centers across the world, Bombardier Transportation is the global leader in the rail industry. It covers the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signaling and with am installed base of rolling stock exceeds 100,000 rail cars and locomotives worldwide.