FISITA and the EuroBrake organising committees are pleased to announce the worthy winners of the EuroBrake 2022 Best Poster competition.
First place winner
Raw materials strategies for the friction industry to become LME independent in the future
Carlos Lorenzana, RIMSA Metal Technology, SA
Base metals — such as iron ore, copper, aluminium and nickel — are the lifeblood of global industrial production and construction. Shaped by shifts in supply and demand, they are a valuable weathervane of change in the world economy. While attracting less attention than oil prices, metal prices have also been fluctuating strongly since the end of 2003. Metal prices were relatively stable between 1995 and the end of 2003, when demand for metals shifted from advanced economies in the West to emerging markets in the East. The addition of sulfide to the friction material modifies the tribochemistry of the pad/rotor interface, reducing the stick and slip effect, providing a more stable coefficient of friction at high temperatures and reducing the wear.
Innovamat is a new brand born from the collaboration of two well renowned manufacturers of additives for friction materials, Quartz and Rimsa, Rimsa and Quartz, taking advantage of the synergies in between the capabilities of both companies to provide innovative solutions through innovative products to the friction materials industry, and beyond. Our first contribution to those challenges is a comprehensive catalogue of SYNTHETIC SULFIDES designed to replace the LME dependent sulfides, like Tin Sulfides. Discover how our innovative approach to synthetic sulfides contributes to keeping the tribochemistry in the rotor and the pad, providing the same benefit than traditional sulfides based on Tin, Copper or Antimony.
Second place winner
Natural latxa sheep wool as an environmentally friendly component for friction materials
Pablo Monreal, Knorr-Bremse
The present work characterizes a natural sheep wool and compares its properties to those of a range of three different, well-known organic fibres that are typically used in the friction material production: aramid, cellulose, and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibres The characterization work consisted of the study of the fibres alone, the non-pressed friction materials, and the final railway brake blocks.
By these means, it was proven that the wool obtained from latxa sheep (Ovis aries) is a suitable replacement for cellulose because the wool presented slightly better thermal resistance in thermogravimetric analysis, and the particle retention ability of both fibres was similar.
The latxa sheep wool was also found to delay the curing reaction to a similar degree as the PAN fibre. Finally, the friction material including sheep wool presented physical and mechanical properties similar to those including cellulose and PAN fibres, and no major differences were found in friction with changing speeds or temperatures. In addition, the inclusion of sheep wool led to the lowest speed and force fade and to a good recovery behaviour after the speed and temperature phases, only second to the friction material using PAN fibre. An average spread in the instantaneous friction coefficient and a slightly higher wear are reported for the material containing sheep wool. Finally, no significant differences were found on the friction surfaces or on the wear mechanism when their microstructure was analysed using scanning electron microscopy.
Third place winner
Regioflexx: A new generation of integrated brake control for mainline trains
Paolo Pietro Piccione, Wabtec
A novel brake system for main line and high-speed applications. Regioflexx is a fully integrated device, where electronics and pneumatics are both located in a small, light and versatile box. Regioflexx name is composed by two words: “Regio”, which stands for “Regional” and “flex” which stands for “flexible”. “Regionals” means that the device can be integrated into Regionals trains, with a full compliance to latest applicable standards like EN 16185, EN 14198, EN 15595. “Flexible” means that it can be integrated into High Speed trains and Metros as well, with, also in this case, a full compliance to applicable standards like EN 15734 and EN 13452.
Summary of challenge(s) addressed by this research The challenges of this research are summarised below:
Replacement of pneumatic components with electronic and software with NO jeopardization of function Safety. This transition is also in line with the innovations discussed in Connecta, a Shift2Rail Project
Compatibility with traditional Systems so that if classic architecture is required, there are no constraints
Device compliance to Safety and Railway Brake Systems Standards. Compliance assessed by two independent Assessors, TÜV SÜD and DB-Systemtechnik
Integration of different and several functions in a single, compact, easy maintenance and light weight device
Typical low-SIL functions, like Holding brake and WRM, shall now be implemented as SIL4 functions.
Results or expected results Expected results are mainly the challenges listed in chapter 2, and are:
Replacement of pneumatic components with electronic and software with NO jeopardization of function Safety
Compatibility with traditional Systems so that if classic architecture is required, there are no constraints
Device compliance to Safety and Railway Brake Systems Standards. Compliance assessed by two independent Assessors, TÜV SÜD and DB-Systemtechnik
Integration of different and several functions in a single, compact, easy maintenance and light weight device
Typical low-SIL functions, like Holding brake and WRM, shall now be implemented as SIL4 functions.
Benefits The benefits deriving from this new brake system, are:
Performances at Train Level (higher accuracy for stopping distances)
Safety improvement
Overhaul intervals increasing
Reduction of the complexity thanks to easy integration and low weight
Drastic reduction of the maintenance cost as components wear is null for that functions managed by electronic and software instead of pneumatic or electro-pneumatic components
Fleet management simplification due to high-integration design in a small and light box, allowing the replacement of the unit in less than 20 minutes by a single operator, with no help of special tools or forklift or weightlifter.
Key beneficiaries
Car Builders
End Users
EU Working Group for EU standard review and update