Das Projekt "Sound Attenuation by Optimised Tread Brake" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Waggon Fabrik Talbot durchgeführt. General information: Objectives and content. Exterior noise caused by rail traffic is a major source of noise pollution in Europe. A large number of people living in the vicinity of railway routes are affected by rolling noise from trains, in particular from goods trains running through densely populated areas at night. Rolling noise of goods and passenger trains is generated by wheel and rail roughness (form irregularity). This roughness leads to wheel and rail vibration and noise radiation. The cast-iron block braking system usually applied on goods trains and still widely found on passenger stock causes a significant increase in wheel roughness in the wavelength range 1-25 cm, which is of most importance for noise generation. This gives rise to high rolling noise levels, compared to a wheel with no brake blocks acting on the wheel tread. Where disc brakes are used, the wheel roughness is found to be much lower and the rolling noise is significantly reduced. In many situations conventional tread brakes are preferred, for both technical and commercial reasons. Alternative materials to the conventional cast-iron brake block material have been tried and it appears possible to develop materials which do not roughen the wheel surface in the wavelength region of importance for noise generation. A number of practical problems have to be overcome, such as thermal build-up in the wheel, excessive wheel wear, wheel cracks, undesirable hollow wear of the wheel profile, lack of efficiency in wet conditions etc. The objective of this project is to develop suitable brake block materials, which prevent the build-up of periodic roughness on the wheel running surface. This should be readily applicable to existing freight rolling stock and locomotives without significant extra costs. The aim is to achieve reductions in rolling noise of 5-12 dB compared to traditional cast-iron block brake stock. This acoustical improvement would affect millions of people living around railway tracks. An important aspect of the development is the retrofit potential of the novel brake block. This means that in a relatively short time all freight wagons can be acoustically improved. The consortium consists of 13 organisations, which are complementary in the development of the novel brake blocks: end-users like railway companies, manufactures of goods wagons, bogies and locomotives, suppliers of brake blocks, scientific institutions which appropriate knowledge of tribilogy and acoustics. Together they constitute an ideal consortium to tackle the present problem. The time frame is about 3 years and the total budget is around 5.3 MECU. Prime Contractor: AEA Technology Rail BV; Utrecht; Nederland.
Das Projekt "Development of New Technologies for Low Noise Railways Infrastructure (SILENT TRACK)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrt durchgeführt. General information: Amongst environmental issues that represent major constraints for European Railways, noise generated by freight traffic is one of the most important and difficult to solve. Freight traffic is operated as much at night as during the day, and noise levels imposed by legislation tend to be particularly severe for this type of traffic. Noise emitted by freight traffic is the result of interaction between freight wagons, belonging to a wide number of Companies all over Europe and neighbour countries, and national infrastructures This makes solutions especially difficult to apply, and require a joint effort at European level. Although ground based protection such as noise barriers, or buildings improvement. will remain locally necessary, a reduction at the source is indeed more efficient, when achievable Reducing freight traffic noise at its source requires combined action on both track and wagons. Therefore, (( Silent Track )) project clusters closely with the BRITE EURAM 'Silent Freight' project, BRPR CT95 0047, started in february 1996, which concentrates on solutions for interoperable rolling stock The objectives of (( Silent Track )) are to develop a number of innovative technical solutions to be applied to existing tracks, and also to new infrastructure, allowing to reach, together with a combined action on vehicles, a global reduction of noise emitted by the train/track system by about 10 dB(A) The cost of implementing these solutions, by retrofit on existing tracks, or from building stage for new ones. must remain reasonable, that is significantly lower than the cost of a noise barrier. Work will include development of investigation and simulation tools, design and validation of solutions. with a strong emphasis on the understanding of phenomena governing rail roughness, the optimisation of the design of track components ( rail, fastening systems, sleepers...). It will be concluded by a demonstration exercise coordinated with Silent Freight where prototype solutions for wagons and track will be jointly tested, shonwing achievable noise reduction and allowing an extensive validation of new models. Guidelines ill been producec in view of standardisation and of defining a policy for the implementation of low noise design in Europe. The project will be carried out by a consortium coordinated by the European Rail Research lnstitute (ERRI ), a body in charge of RTD for all European Railways, and including several manufacturer, of rails. fasteners. pads and other components. and several Research Centres. Prime Contractor: Stichting European Rail Research Institute; Utrecht; Nederland.
Das Projekt "European Research Project for Optimised Ballasted Tracks (EUROBALT)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von MAN Technologie AG, System Electronics durchgeführt. Achievements:The EUROBALT project has led to the advancement of knowledge in the behaviour of ballasted track in several different areas. The measurements have shown the importance of the track stiffness in the whole process of the track degradation. Even though a complete understanding has not been achieved in this particular area, this concept will be now considered by the railways companies. Different tools have also been improved or developed in order to measure the track stiffness, under traffic or by separate investigation (STEDEF measurement technique or PANDROL double integration). Modelling the ballast has been investigated with first studies with new approaches (ENPC). Moreover, two models have been developed, with the same goal of predicting track geometry deterioration. Even though the validation has been limited, it is a big step forward in the study of the phenomena (INRETS 'VOCO + BALTAS' and TUB SIRaGe). As for the models of track damage modelling, different problems were studied and models were developed or improved. These models will also allow a better understanding of the phenomena of track deterioration and the prediction of maintenance and renewal requirement and costs (BRR models). The monitoring studies led to : the development of a prototype able to recover in real time the long wave faults on a track, using versine based measurement cars (MAN technique), the development of a calculation method to define the forces applied on a track section when a train passes, using the data obtained from the new piezofoil sensors developed within the project (MAN method and TUB piezofoil sensors applications). What is also important is the knowledge gained by the different participants, particularly the railways companies. The different approaches used to characterise the behaviour of the ballast showed that the parameters are numerous and not easy to resolve. It can be stated, however, that the concepts of track elasticity or track elasticity variation is one of the key factors in track geometry deterioration. Further studies must be led now to describe more precisely its importance, define means of measurement, and develop the track specifications necessary to realise the benefits that are possible. The EUROBALT project is a big step forward in providing a more precise knowledge of the ballasted track. A complete understanding, however, remains elusive, and is likely to require significant further investigations. . Prime Contractor: Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF); Paris; France.
Das Projekt "The European aeroemissions network (AERONET)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Institut für Antriebstechnik durchgeführt. One of the major problems that civil aeronautics will have to face over the next twenty or thirty years is to accommodate the predicted growth in demand of air transport without creating unacceptable adverse environmental effects. It is to be expected that new scientific results, increasing public concerns over the environment and future restrictive regulations with respect to aircraft emissions will force airline companies to take ecological considerations much more into account than it does at present. Consequently, for European aircraft manufacturers it is of high importance to react early and to guide their research and development resources into the most important and efficient direction. The aim of the AERONET project is to support coordination ' a postiori' of existing European and national projects or programmes dealing with the contribution of air traffic emissions to anthropogenic climate and atmospheric changes. For this purpose AERONET seeks to : - bring together experts from engine technology, atmospheric research and operations as well as programme responsible to exchange knowledge and opinions and to discuss necessary future actions on the basis of jointly defined goals and time scales, - produce competitive advantage for Europe through enhanced information echoing in the field of atmospheric effects of air traffic emissions, - strengthen a common European position in global technical and political discussions - support the Commission in identifying topics for the 5th Framework Programme, - identify gaps and help prepare a coordinated submission of proposals. European Dimension and Partnership: Europe is, beside the US, one of the two biggest aircraft manufacturers. One supposition for the economic success of European aircraft industry is not only to fulfill the existing regulations but, due to the long development times of 5-10 years and the long lifetimes of aircraft of more than 20 years, also to take the trend of future regulations development into account at a very early stage. This needs continuous and fast information exchange and discussions between atmospheric scientists, aircraft engineers and regulatory organisations. To be successful with an effort of this dimension, optimal coordination of national and European programmes in all three fields is required. Thus the network brings together representatives of all programmes and institutions concerned, helps to integrate activities through better information exchange, tries to identify the most urgent themes for R&D activities and intends to give recommendations for the Fifth Framework Programme. Potential Applications: Understanding the atmospheric impacts, the technical consequences and development perspectives, and the operational impacts as a whole is absolutely necessary to strengthen the European position in global regulatory committees on the on side and to gain competitive advantages for the European aircraft and airline industries on the other side. usw
Das Projekt "Development of New Technologies for low Noise Freight Wagons (SILENT FREIGHT)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Jenbacher Energiesysteme durchgeführt. General information: BE95-1238 Development of New Technologies for Low Noise Freight Wagons. Amongst environmental issues that represent major constraints for European Railways, noise generated by freight traffic is one of the most important and difficult to solve. Freight traffic is operated as much at night as during the day, and noise levels imposed by legislation tend to be particularly severe for this type of traffic. Noise emitted by freight traffic is the result of interaction between freight wagons, belonging to a wide number of Companies all over Europe and neighbour countries, and national infrastructures. This makes solutions especially difficult to apply, and require a joint effort at European level. Although ground-based protection, such as noise barriers, or buildings improvement, will remain locally necessary, a reduction at the source is indeed more efficient, when achievable. Reducing freight traffic noise at its source requires combined action on both wagons and infrastructure. Therefore, two targeted actions are simultaneously proposed within Brite-EuRam: while 'Silent Freight' aims to solve the question of rolling stock emission, another targeted project called 'Silent Track' considers questions regarding track. The objectives of 'Silent Freight' are the following: develop a number of innovative technical solutions to be applied to existing freight rolling stock, and also to future wagons, allowing to reach, together with a combined action on track, a global reduction of noise emitted by the train/track system by about 10 dB(A). The cost of implementing these solutions, by retrofit on existing wagons, or from building stage for new ones, must remain reasonable, that is compatible with the economical requests imposed by a highly competitive context. Work will include development of investigation and simulation tools, design and validation of solutions, with a strong emphasis on the optimisation of the wheel design and on solutions integrated in the superstructure to provide shielding and reduce emission of the wagons. It will be concluded by a joint demonstration exercise where prototype solutions for wagons and track will be tested simultaneously, showing achievable noise reduction and allowing an extensive validation of new models. Guidelines will also been produced, in view of standardisation and of defining a policy for the implementation of low-noise design in Europe. The project will be carried out by a consortium coordinated by the European Rail Research Institute (ERRI), a body in charge of RTD for all European Railways, and including several manufacturers of wagons, wheels and other components, and several Research Centres. Prime Contractor: Stichting European Rail Research Institute; Utrecht; Nederland.