The various fields of engineering covered by the iMMC have led its teams to work on railway systems. This page briefly introduces the railway expertise gained by two groups of the institute through various research and industrial projects.
Our team
On the one hand, the LEMSC laboratoryhas developed an expertise in carrying out experimental tests to characterise rail sub-systems of different sizes: from single components to full-scale track sections loaded by a bogie.
On the other hand, the multibody research group has extensive experience in the field of dynamic modelling and computer simulation of railway vehicles, which allows it to carry out different types of analysis: stability, comfort, critical speed.
Our two teams work closely together, offering the best expertise of scientists, researchers and technicians at the institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil engineering (iMMC) of the UCLouvain. Thanks to our strong and ongoing collaboration with railway companies, vehicle dynamics, passenger comfort, track stability, suspension design, actuation performances, etc. are all topics that have initiated and largely directed our research priorities, educational goals and experimental developments.
Our activities
In the past decades, we have been involved in many projects arising out of industrial issues that have required the development of specific modelling techniques or the setting up of new experimental processes.
We have thus developed our own expertise for various kinds of railway applications, such as experimental testing on track components, modelling of complex wheel/rail contact configurations, dynamics of articulated bogies, analysis of pneumatic suspension performances, electromechanical coupling effects, etc. To do this, we have a wide test floor, modern testing equipment and a large variety of sensors.
For simulation, we have access to powerful modelling tools, in particular the in-house developed software Robotran dedicated to multibody dynamics [https://www.robotran.be/] with specific development for railway systems. Engineering students being our main “expertise reservoir for the future”, we also organize teaching activities in the field of railways, via courses, seminars, student projects, master theses, internships and PhD theses.
To learn more, visit the railway dedicated web pages:
• of the LEMSC laboratory,
• of the Robotran multibody software