The project has made very tangible technical achievements related to the Shift2Rail goals mentioned above. An ATP aerial bracket for additive manufacturing was designed manufactured and mounted on a Metro Madrid trainset. The weight of the component could be reduced by 60% compared to the existing one. Similarly, the best of the three composite wheelset concepts developed in WP3 would lead to a 60% weight reduction of the wheelset. Further, in WP2 an innovative single axle running gear with carbon fibre composite material bogie frame and active suspension has been developed that promises a weight reduction of 400 kg/m compared to the existing Metro Madrid vehicle. The bogie frame has been manufactured and tested in the laboratory. Since new lighter vehicle concepts often need active suspension to achieve as good or even better running behaviour as today’s vehicles, active suspension concepts are developed. Specifically, a high safety integrity level (SIL4) controller has been designed and manufactured. A test system has been set up to allow a vehicle model to be controlled in realistic ‘Hardware in the Loop’ conditions. Results show that the controller can run at close to the frequencies required with SIL4. In the same task a new type of actuator including a spring has been developed and tested in the laboratory indicating very promising performance.
As mentioned above, the Universal Cost Model has been updated both with regard to the technical content and with a completely new user interface. One of the main contributions of NEXTGEAR to the upgrading and simplification of the UCM is the inclusion of Switches and Crossings in the infrastructure cost estimation tool. Baseline cases have been created and simulated, and the tool has been demonstrated with specific innovation cases.
