Mr. Armin Diller, RENK Test System, GERMANY

Mr. Jürgen Gaßner, RENK Test System, GERMANY

Test bench brake calliper with maximum power range

RENK Test System is one of the world´s leading providers of customized test systems used in development, production and quality assurance. Based on its many years of experience, RTS develops innovative test rigs for nearly every area of application in drive technology. A very interesting area are brake dynamometers for the development of rail friction brake systems.

When designing a brake test stand, it is advantageous if it is suitable for testing various brake systems from a wide variety of vehicle classes. For this reason, RENK has developed a special brake calliper for testing disc brake pads, which is superior to standard brake callipers in many areas:

- The interface of this test bench brake calliper allows the assembly of all relevant brake pads for railway disc brakes.

- The performance range of the test bench brake calliper covers the maximum requirements of all possible brake pads (highest vehicle mass - highest vehicle speed) and allows targeted overloads for special tests.

- Depending on the test requirements, this test bench brake calliper works with pneumatic brake force support.

- The direct force measurement necessary for the certification of the brake system test rig according to UIC 548, which has to be retrofitted at great expense for standard brake callipers for the test rig application, is already available and can even be supplemented by further sensors.

- Despite this versatility, the test bench brake calliper that has been developed is more wear-resistant than standard brake callipers.

A first brake calliper was successfully tested at RENK over a period of approx. 2 months this year and is to be handed over to a customer in 2021.

A second brake calliper will be subjected to further tests in the spring of 2021 in Augsburg.

The proposed lecture is intended to provide an overview of the development activities that have been carried out and are still planned:

- Why did RENK decide to develop a special brake calliper for test bench operation? What are the weak points when using a standard brake calliper?

- What development goals have been set for this test bench brake calliper? Which performance range should this development cover?

- What experiences have been gained so far from the practical use of the test bench brake calliper? Which optimization measures have already been carried out? How does it behave in contrast to standard brake callipers?

- What remaining work still needs to be done in the development of this special brake calliper?