Better rail research for Serbia
Serbia’s RVC is part of the Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering in Kraljevo at the University of Kragujevac. Years of Serbian political isolation left the RVC and the domestic rail industry in dire need of upgrade and modernisation. The EU-funded SERVICE (Strengthening Railway Vehicles Center of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Kraljevo) project improved the facility’s research capacity for the sake of Serbian participation in EU research. The upgrades consisted of improving staff knowledge and skills, acquiring new research equipment and defining common research programmes with the EU. The last area focused on railway vehicle dynamics and investigation of fatigue in railway vehicles. One of the project’s main goals was to improve the knowledge and skills of RVC staff. The staff needed re-education and renewed contact with other research agencies. Such contact was intended to help establish new research programmes and to ensure continuity of outcomes after a project’s completion. Thus, SERVICE facilitated three types of two-way secondments. The first two kinds involved experimental and theoretical research about railway dynamics. The third kind focused on theoretical research into mechanical structures and fatigue. All secondments allowed RVC staff to either participate in advanced projects with European partners or to benefit from the teaching of outside experts at the RVC. The project also arranged four study visits and three workshops. The consortium further arranged the recruitment of new staff. New additions consisted of two experienced researchers and five less experienced researchers. Although researchers had considered the recruitment phase risky, on the grounds of central Serbia being unattractive to suitably qualified people, the project successfully completed this goal. Equipment purchases consisted of a test track for investigating the properties of railway vehicles. The facility enables research into the causes of train derailment. Additionally, SERVICE acquired equipment for measuring forces at the wheel-rail contact point. The equipment allows for calculation of forces, for which the project developed its own methodology. Specialised software packages were also procured. RVC’s newly upgraded capacity has helped to revitalise Serbian rail research, through which the field benefits across the EU.
Keywords
Rail research, Centre for Railway Vehicles, engineering, University of Kragujevac, SERVICE
