On December 10, the world's first carbon fiber railway bogie (called CAFIBO) was jointly released by developer ELG Carbon Fibre (Cosley, United Kingdom) and the University of Huddersfield's Institute for Railway Research .
The bogie was made entirely of surplus and recycled carbon fiber materials, and was shown to more than 100 industry representatives at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) Unlock Innovation event held at Huddersfield University.
According to reports, the new CAFIBO bogie is lighter than conventional bogies and has optimized vertical and lateral rigidity. The bogie will:
Reduce track wear and infrastructure maintenance costs by reducing vertical and lateral loads on the track
Improve reliability and operational availability through embedded health monitoring systems
Reduce energy consumption, thereby reducing the footprint of global warming.
The bogie is part of a two-year plan that was jointly provided by ELG Carbon Fibre, Magma Structures (Portsmouth, UK), University of Birmingham and Huddersfield University, and was awarded by Alstom (London, UK) Additional support. In the next few months, the bogie will be tested on the most advanced test rolling mill at the University of Huddersfield. The equipment is called "Huddersfield Adhesion and Rolling Contact Laboratory Dynamics Equipment", which is "Harold".
Frazer Barnes, Managing Director of ELG Carbon Fibre, said: "The use of recycled carbon fiber instead of steel to manufacture railway bogies is the first in the world, so participating in it is a very exciting and beneficial project." "We hope to make recycled carbon not only in Reducing weight is an attractive option for the railway industry and can eliminate waste and reduce costs. "
Simon Iwnicki, director of the Huddersfield University Railway Research Institute, said: "The use of novel materials and construction methods in railway vehicle bogies has huge potential benefits." "Reducing mass can save energy, but It can also reduce track force and improve dynamic performance. I hope that the tests conducted on the CAFIBO bogies in Huddersfield will help encourage the railway industry to accept these new technologies. "