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#3–2008 evolution.skf.com EVOLUTION 21

SPEEDING UPKnowledge engineering for high-speed railways.

technologyTESTING TIMES Preventive maintenance integrates the electrical with the mechanical.

FAN TALESBetter fan performance with standard upgrades.

Speed has been the essence of railways since the fi rst steam locomotive made its appearance in 1804. SKF remains at the forefront of high-speed train design, providing some of the most safety-critical components of railway vehicles – the wheelset axlebox assemblies, comprising the wheelset bearings or units, the axlebox housing and integrated sensors.By Gottfried Kuře, marketing director, Railway Business Unit, SKF, Austria, and Marc Defossez, product and quality manager, Railway Business

Unit, SKF, the Netherlands.

Today high-speed trains, cruising at 300 km/h have changed Europe’s geography, and distances between large cities are no longer counted in kilometres but rather in TGV, ICE, Eurostar or other train hours. The dark clouds of global warm-ing threatening our planet are seen as rays of sunshine to this most sustainable transport medium, with other continents and countries following the growth path initiated by Europe and Japan.

Historical development SKF has always been active in developing solutions to meet the challenging requirements of high-speed train builders and operators for the development, design and testing of wheelset bearings. Today, high-speed rail transport is defi ned in some European standards as vehicles with a maximum speed of more than 200 km/h. By the 1930s, trains in Europe and North America had already reached travelling

High speed in railways

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22 Evolution evolution.skf.com #3–2008

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speeds of 130 km/h, with top speeds of 160 km/h.

Most North American and European steam locomotives, for example, were equipped with SKF axleboxes and spherical roller bear-ings. The French Michelin 23 experimental train with rubber wheels and a maximum speed of 150 km/h was equipped with an SKF gearbox and wheel bearings. In addition, one of many historical applications of the 1920s and 1930s is the Dutch diesel electric multi-ple unit-type DE 3 from 1934, equipped with SKF axleboxes and spherical roller bearings. Later on, other designs were based on cylin-drical and tapered roller bearings.

World War II halted the development of high-speed travel significantly, and it wasn’t until Japan inaugurated the Tokaido Shinkansen train in 1964, which operates at a speed of 200 km/h, that fast train travel re-emerged. This was followed in Europe by the arrival in Germany of the E03 electric locomotives that in 1965 also achieved 200 km/h. They were equipped with SKF axleboxes and cylindrical roller bearings as well as drive system bearings. The first French TGV trains reached 270 km/h in commercial operation in 1981. They are equipped with SKF drive system bearings.

Tilting at high speedThe first tilting train of the Italian Railways is the ETR 450 type that went into service in 1985. Pendolino trains have a maximum speed of 250 km/h and were built by FIAT, whose railway division is now a part of Alstom. The axleboxes were developed by SKF and equipped with SKF wheelset bear-ings. The next Pendolino generation is equipped additionally with integrated speed sensors. These trains have been in operation since 1992 in Italy as ETR 460 and ETR 480 and in Finland as Sm3, in Switzerland they are running as Cisalpino ETR 470, and in Portugal they are called Pendoluso. The Pendolino train to the latest design is now running in the Czech Republic.

The Swedish tilting trains X2000 developed by ADtranz in 1990 have a max-imum speed of 220 km/h and are equipped with SKF tapered roller bearing units TBU 130 x 220. One train is also in operation in China.

Speeding up in Germany, Italy, Japan and SpainThe German ICE train operation started in 1991. Nearly all German ICE high-speed trains are equipped with SKF bear-ings. The trailer coaches of ICE 2, with a maximum speed of 280 km/h, are equipped with SKF tapered roller bear-ings. Siemens designed the bogies. The motor coaches of the ICE 1 and ICE 2 are equipped with TBU 150 x 250. The Italian high-speed train ETR 500 has a maximum speed of 300 km/h, and FIAT/Alstom makes the bogies. The motor car and trailer coaches are equipped with SKF tapered roller bearing units incorporating speed and temperature sensors. The first trains went into service in 1992.

SKF has won an order for the first Japanese export of Shinkansen high-speed trains. KHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the largest railway rolling stock manufacturer in Japan, has chosen SKF as the supplier of axlebox bearings for the 360 cars that will be exported to Taiwan. The train is designed for a maximum speed of 300 km/h. Based on its unique experience with several high-speed train applications in major European railways, SKF was able to offer a package, including wheelset bearing units with spare parts and know-how. The high perform-ance of the SKF solution, combined with its

1804 008 km/h Steam UK – Richard Trevithick’s first railway steam locomotive

1825 024 km/h Steam UK – Locomotion No. 1

1830 048 km/h Steam UK – Stephenson’s Rocket

1848 097 km/h Steam US – Boston and Maine Railroad, Antelope

1850 125 km/h Steam UK – Great Britain

1854 132 km/h Steam UK – Bristol & Exeter Railway #41

1855-1902 several unverified speed records

1903 203 km/h Electric Germany – Siemens Halske, Berlin test track

1903 210 km/h Electric Germany – AEG, Berlin test track

1931 230 km/h Petrol Germany – Schienenzeppelin

1953 239 km/h Electric France – six-axle locomotive

1955 331 km/h Electric France – two locomotives, one six axles and one four axles

1981 380 km/h Electric France – TGV PSE

1988 406 km/h Electric Germany – Intercity-Experimental (ICE prototype)

1990 515 km/h Electric France – TGV Atlantique

2007 575 km/h Electric France – TGV V150

200 years of railway speed records with conventional wheel/rail systems

Spee

d (k

m/h

)

600

500

400

300

200

100

01800 1850 1900 1950 2000

year

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#3–2008 evolution.skf.com Evolution 23

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strong focus on safety, encouraged KHI and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation to choose SKF.

In Spain, there is considerable develop-ment in high-speed rail systems. Several challenging new locomotives and trains are now equipped with SKF wheelset bearing units and axleboxes, and most of them are equipped with drive-system bearings. These include the:

Alstom Alaris S490 tilting train, 220 km/h Alstom Lanzaderas S104 and S114 trains, 250 km/h Alstom AVE S100 high-speed train, 300 km/h CAF/ATPRD variable-gauge train, 250 km/h CAF high-speed train made for Turkey, 250 km/h Siemens Velaro S103, maximum oper-ational speed 350 km/h (has a speed record of 404 km/h with a serial train in Europe) Talgo S130 variable-gauge train, 250 km/h

Talgo AVE S102 and S112 high-speed train, 330 km/h (coaches made by Talgo and power heads made by Bombardier).

Technical features Absolute safety and utmost reliability all year round, whatever the weather condi-tions, for maintenance-free periods of close to a million kilometres, are the expectations of SKF customers when dealing with high-speed trains. Succeeding and meeting these expectations has required a subtle blend of breakthrough innovation combined with experience gathered over the years in opti-mizing every detail of the metallic and non-metallic materials, surfaces topography and lubricants.

High-speed axlebox packages consist of a wheelset unit incorporated into a hous-ing tailored to the customer requirements, such as interfaces to the wheelset journal, suspension system, damper arrangements, earth brush return and devices and cable and connector interfaces for sensors, etc.

Historically, the wheelsets were originally fitted with spherical roller bearings, which were progressively substituted with tapered

or cylindrical roller bearings, as these pro-vide lower friction and operating tempera-ture. The lower operating temperature results in improved grease performance and contributes to significantly extended main-tenance intervals. In order to simplify the assembly and maintenance, SKF developed complete wheelset units. These already have adjusted clearance and are factory lubricated and sealed.

Specific features have been developed for these demanding applications. These features have been implemented on other non-high-speed applications as well. Some examples include:

A polymer cage to gain more reliability and safety under critical operating conditions A polymer spacer between the backing ring and the bearing inner ring to avoid fretting corrosion and bearing contamin-ation, thus contributing to extended main-tenance intervals and lower life-cycle cost.

Moreover, SKF has also developed speed and temperature sensors integrated in the

Right: American Union Pacific trains from the 1930s were equipped with SKF wheelset, traction motor and gearbox bearings and reached a maximum speed of 177 km/h.

Left: Polish steam locomotive equipped with SKF wheelset bearings, with a maximum operation-al speed of 130 km/h.

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24 EVOLUTION evolution.skf.com #3–2008

Italian ETR 500 generation made by the Trevi consortium, 300 km/h, in operation since 1992.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axlebox-es, speed and temperature sensors plus positioning sensors for ETCS, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

Various Pendolino tilting train types are also in operation in the Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal and Spain.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axleboxes, speed sensors, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

Italian Pendolino ETR 460 tilting train generation made by FIAT, later on Alstom, 250 km/h, in operation since 1992.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axleboxes, speed sensors, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

French TGV generation made by Alstom, operated by SNCF, 300 km/h, in operation since 1981.

SKF traction motor and gearbox bearings.

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German ICE 1 and ICE2, fi rst and second generation made by Bombardier and Siemens, operated by DB at 250/280 km/h, in operation since 1991/1997.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axlebox-es, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

German ICE 3 and ICE-T tilting version, third generation, made by Bombardier and Siemens, tilting technology made by Alstom, operated by DB at 330/230 km/h since 1999.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axleboxes, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

Swedish X2000 tilting train made by ABB, operated by SJ, 220 km/h, in operation since 1990.

SKF wheelset bearing units, axle-boxes, traction motor and gearbox bearings.

Austrian Railjet made by Siemens, operated by ÖBB, 230 km/h, will enter international service in 2008.

SKF wheelset bearing units and axleboxes for coaches.

Spanish Talgo 350 made by Talgo and Bombardier, operated by Renfe, 350 km/h, prototypes in operation since 2005.

SKF wheelset bearing units.

SKF in high-speed railways

Pictures by courtesy of: AnsaldoBreda, SBB, SNCF, DB AG/Hans-Joachim Kirsche, ČESKÉ DRÁHY,Talgo, DB AG/Wolfgang Klee, ÖBB, SJ AB.

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#3–2008 evolution.skf.com EVOLUTION 25

As train transport employs ever-faster

speeds to shrink the distance between

vast tracts of land, it requires the applica-

tion of robust engineering solutions. Today,

SKF technology has a presence in most

high-speed applications in service and

under development, thanks to its long his-

tory of association with the railway indus-

try. SKF supplies axlebox packages based

on cylindrical or tapered roller cartridge

bearing units. These units are increas-

ingly equipped with sophisticated sensor

systems that can monitor performance,

diagnose faults and predict maintenance

requirements. Increased speed means the

need to supply safety-critical components

with performances that can go the extra

kilo metre.

SUMMARY

unit sealing system, enabling further assem-bly simplifi cation, as well as a reduction in the number of components on the axle end. Rigorous testing and standardsAny new design or design change requires tough validation tests before being released for the application. In this respect, SKF actively participated in the development of the European Standard, EN 12082. This standard defi nes detailed specifi cation and acceptance criteria for the approval of wheelset bearings and units on dedicated simulation test rigs. The standard was ori-ginally built up for the TGV, the fi rst high-speed train in Europe. Today SKF has seven test rigs running around the clock in its Research Centre located in the Netherlands. These rigs not only enable evaluation of the effect of any new design feature on per-formance, but they are also used to check the suitability of existing products for new applications or alternative sourcing of com-ponents. The axlebox housings, critical com-ponents transmitting the bogie loads to the wheelset bearings, are also submitted to very severe fatigue tests based on UIC standards, following detailed FEM calcula-tions and computer-simulated fatigue resist-ance verifi cation.

SKF also meets IRIS, the new Inter-national Railway Industry Standard, and is one of the fi rst certifi ed companies. This standard covers all features of the ISO 9000 standard, plus the additional requirements of the European railway industry. The add-itional main focus of the IRIS standard is the evaluation of management systems, espe-cially multi-site project management.

Today SKF is involved in most high-speed trains found around the world.

Latest technical developmentsETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a new signalling, control and train protection system. It will replace 14 incom-patible domestic European railway safety systems, especially on high-speed lines. One important factor is the exact positioning of the high-speed trains, based on a revolution counter and direction monitoring. SKF sealed and greased bearing units accommo-date sensors that are space and part saving as well as easy to handle. To gain redundant and independent sensor systems, several independent sensor packages are mounted

SKF Multilog On-line System IMx-R, an online mechanical condition monitoring system, facilitates early fault detection and prevention and provides automatic advice for correcting existing and impending conditions as well as input to condition-based maintenance management systems.

onto the bearing shield. These designs are space saving, especially in the axial direc-tion, where earth brush return devices and gauge profi les are limiting. A further advan-tage of integrated sensors is that the original axle design can be used without any rede-sign. One of the fi rst SKF ETCS sensor applications is on the Italian Pendolino.

Monitoring for fault detectionSKF online mechanical condition monitor-ing systems are designed to facilitate early fault detection and prevention, to provide automatic advice for correcting existing or impending conditions and to provide input to condition-based maintenance manage-ment systems. The SKF Multilog On-line System IMx-R monitoring system, exclu-sively developed for the railway industry, achieves increased vehicle availability through higher operational reliability by, for example, monitoring:

Wheelset bearing conditions and grease service life Wheel fl ats and shape Bogie stability/hunting sensoring Derailment condition Propulsion system condition, e.g., traction motors, gearboxes and cardan shafts Unbalance and resonance conditions Rail track conditions.

The Multilog On-line System IMx-R pro-vides automatic load- and speed-dependent warnings and alarms that initiate on-board and external communication, data process-ing for automatic diagnosis and root cause analyses, links to maintenance management systems for scheduling, spare part and work order management and end user, system and Web-site-based data access.

Axlebox equipped with a sensorized wheelset bearing unit, as applied on the latest Italian Pendolino tilting trains.

Tapered roller bearing units for wheelsets, equipped with positioning sensors for ETCS (European Train Control System).

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