Lightweight design concept methodology of the Extended Market Wagon: A Shift2Rail project

Abstract

The Extended Market Wagon (EMW) presented in this study is a design concept developed within the FR8RAIL- 4 project, which is part of the Shift2Rail IP-5 program. FR8RAIL-4 focuses on increasing the efficiency of rail freight transportation by employing new technologies and strategies such as new lightweight wagon designs, novel running gear, wagon intelligence and wagon automation in order to deliver goods safely, reliably and costefficiently. The challenges addressed in this research primarily relate to the conceptualization and design of a robust yet lightweight innovative wagon structure that can be implemented using conventional manufacturing methods. This lightweight design must be achieved while balancing the above goals with the necessity for simplicity and low life-cycle-costs. A further goal of the study is to demonstrate the use of the described methods and design in the course of dramatically shortened design cycles and in flexible response to changing requirements. The Extended Market Wagon (EMW) is one of the demonstration parts of the FR8RAIL-4 project which addresses technical solutions for these requirements and also challenges. Therefore, the results of the study are to be applied as a technical1:1 scale demonstrator, in accordance with the EU Annual Work Plan 2020. I It will be tested on track under real world conditions.