Final Report Summary - SPURT (Seamless Public Urban Rail Transport)
Six exploitable results could be been developed with joint forces of the SPURT project partners, which are been summarised as:
a) New methodologies considering the:
- material and component requirements to maximise lifetime of wheels and rails in operation; in combination with optimal maintenance procedures (best timing) and to minimise grinding off wheels in order to reduce lifecycle cost and maintain vehicle safety;
- infrastructure requirements (maximum acceptable irregularity levels) compatible with vehicle safety and corresponding reference data.
b) Comprehensive technical knowledge of:
- rolling contact fatigue phenomena through experimental data and numerical results; this includes experimental data collection concerning the behaviour of specimens and to determine optimal material combinations;
- flange-climb derailment mechanism through experimental data and numerical results - with a numerical data collection concerning the response of tramcars to degraded track conditions.
c) Data collections concerning:
- optimal materials combinations for wheel and rail based on the numeric model and the specimens' results;
- the sensitivity analysis on the influence of the main parameters involved (tramway layout, track irregularity, wheel diameter, W/R profiles, vehicle speed and vehicle characteristics) on VV/R dynamic loads;
- the wheel-rail contact forces corresponding to one-year operation and definition of the corresponding load spectra.
d) One-year evaluation of vehicle operation in Milano network concerning rolling contact fatigue.
In the SPURT project report, the contractors set out in a detailed and verifiable manner, the terms of use and dissemination of the knowledge arising from the European project. This evolving document was been updated to give a cumulative overview of the projects undertaken and planned activities, and submitted. The final plan for using and disseminating the knowledge provides a complete picture of all activities undertaken. Most importantly, it provides information on the future route to full use (exploitation or use in further research) and dissemination of the knowledge.