Next Generation Train (NGT): Cooperation between DLR and Lucchini RS Group for innovative railway vehicles

Abstract

At the German Aerospace Center (DLR) there is a project for railway applications with a focus on, among other things, lightweight design and the introduction of innovative architectures and solutions at the bogie level. In particular, from the viewpoint of the bogie design and the bogie configuration, a highly innovative concept was adopted, pursuing a lightweight solution by implementing topology-optimization-derived steel structures with a low-floor bridged axle configuration and independently rotating wheels (IRW), sprung direct-drive high frequency AC-synchronous motors and a mechatronic control system to govern the steering angle of the bogie using differential motor torques. The DLR and Lucchini RS Group cooperated in order to co-design the bogie’s wheels and shafts, the latter having a special layout due to the IRW configuration. The activities included the geometrical and dimensional definition, the structural verification of the components’ static and fatigue behavior and the proper technological practices at the manufacturing stage. In particular the interface between the wheel and the traction motor required special local machining. The outcome of the partnership between the DLR and Lucchini RS was presented at the InnoTrans 2022, held in Berlin in September 2022, in the form of the NGT FuN bogie prototype and research facility.