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   Aluminium car-body  evaluated  
In the last decade aluminium car bodies have replaced steel car bodies to a large extent. This has been a major step towards light and thus more energy efficient rail vehicles.
Technology field: Mass reduction
open main section General information
close main section General criteria
  close sub-section Status of development: in use
    Standard technology.
  Time horizon for broad application: now
    (no details available)
  Expected technological development: basically exploited
    According to manufacturers, aluminium car body technology is essentially exploited. A further weight reduction of the car body structure based on aluminium technology is hardly possible.
    Motivation:
    Weight saving
  Benefits (other than environmental): medium
   

Weight reduction

Besides reduced energy consumption, weight reduction leads to

  • higher acceleration rates for given traction power which is especially relevant in high-speed trains
  • less axle load and thus reduced wear of bogies and rail
  Barriers: low
   

Maintenance and repairs

Being the standard technology, aluminium car bodies meet no major barriers in regional and main line stock. In local service, there is still some demand for steel car bodies. Local trains have a comparedly high rate of accidents (minor train crashes etc.) and steel car bodies are easier to repair. Therefore some operators of local networks stick to steel technology.
    Success factors:
    (no details available)
  Applicability for railway segments: high
    Type of traction:  electric - DC, electric - AC, diesel
    Type of transportation:  passenger - main lines, passenger - high speed, passenger - regional lines, passenger - suburban lines
    (no details available)
    Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
  Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: > 20%
  Share of newly purchased stock: > 50%
    (no details available)
  Market potential (railways): high
    There are still many rail vehicles with steel bodies in service. Therefore, there is still major potential for substitution. Since many manufacturers have invested in expensive equipment for producing of aluminium car bodies, no other technology is expected to conquer the market in the near future. In long-term fibre-reinforced polymers may become a serious competition for aluminium construction.
    Example:
   

 
open main section Environmental criteria
open main section Economic criteria
no data available Application outside railway sector (this technology is railway specific)
open main section Overall rating
References / Links:
Attachments:
Related projects:
Contact persons:
 date created: 2002-10-09
 
 
© UIC - International Union of Railways 2003
 
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