Experimental and numerical strength analysis of freight wagon type SHIMMNS intended for the transportation of the sheet coils

Abstract

Shimmns wagons are very common type of freight wagons that are used for transportation of heavy steel sheet coils, which are further used as an initial material in automotive and other industries. Due to frequent usage, and heavy loading, these wagons are prone to fatigue cracks, which, if not identified it time, could cause catastrophic failures. Therefore, these wagons must satisfy rigorous standards, and must be thoroughly analysed and tested. In this paper, we will present a methodology that combines experimental testing and Finite Element Analysis according to TSI standard and norm EN 12663-2:2010. Measurements with strain gauges and stresses obtained by FEM calculation gives good agreement. FEM model is created in FEMAP software, and analysis was done using NX Nastran solver. Based on the agreement between numerical and experimental results, it can be concluded that the FEM analysis can be reliably applied during the designing of new wagons, or analysis of failures in existing ones. FEM analysis can be used to perform several design cycles virtually, thus reducing the number of the prototypes required for experimental testing. This can lead to great savings in time and money during the design of new wagons.