As part of the Shift2Rail initiative and in the historical line of Talgo of lightening of structures, a single axle independent rotating wheel running gear frame “Rodal” made of novel lightweight materials for the railway environment (carbon fibre, titanium, and high-strength steel) and a section of the high-speed carbody made of carbon fibre and aluminium will be presented. The carbody has been made jointly with Aernnova, Tecnalia and FIDAMC.
The main aim is to increase the bearing capacity thanks to the significant weight reductions achieved, close to 50% in the running gear and 25% in the carbody structure. This increase in capacity means improvements in efficiency, energy consumption and life cycle.
The running gear frame has successfully passed the 10 million cycles of the EN 13749 fatigue test and the carbody is pending completion of the EN 12663 tests. This validation has been complemented with electrical conductivity, resistance to impact, fire and smoke, etc. All this experience is being transferred to the standardization group for the development of an acceptance process for new materials, CEN TC256/SC2/WG54.
The light running gear frame received a great reception when the It was presented at the international fair for composites JEC World, in May in Paris. These works in composite materials in the railway field have been recognized by AEMAC (Spanish Association of Composite Materials) with the award for Excellence in the Industrial Contribution of Composite Materials.