Innovating Wheelsets 2020: Maintenance, Sustainability and Value

Name: Innovating Wheelsets 2020: Maintenance, Sustainability and Value
Start: 2020-10-19T12:45:00
Location: Seminar

Seminar, Online

19 October 2020 - 20 October 2020
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Overview

The railway rolling stock sector is changing rapidly with the introduction of new fleets and new technologies. Several new suppliers have entered the UK market and this combines with an increased interest in innovation, reduced whole life cost and reduced environmental impact. With these trains come technologies and designs new to the UK market – and engineers must be prepared to adapt their practices for wheelsets to conform to new requirements and standards.

As a critical rolling stock component, the effective design and operation of wheelsets is imperative. This seminar brings together representatives from the entire industry to share insights into new trains, associated technologies, and their impact on wheelset requirements. Attendees will learn how they can maintain high standards of safety while improving cost, lifecycle and environmental performance.

Attend the Innovating Wheelsets seminar to:

Recognise effective methods of performance management for a modern wheelset
Learn how to better manage wheelset maintenance from practical examples
Understand the lifecycle challenges of wheelsets and identify controls and technologies that can provide benefit

Confirmed seminar speakers include:

Peter Williams, Fleet Data & Performance Manager, Avanti West Coast
Steve Taylor, Secretary General, Private Wagon Federation
David Vincent, Chief Technical Officer, Perpetuum
Neil Cooney, Technical Director, SET Ltd
Andrew James, Engineering Manager, Avanti West Coast

Delegate feedback from the previous seminar:

"This event was an excellent opportunity to learn about current practice within the industry and new technology available with regards to wheelset maintenance."
Project Engineer, London Underground

"Very interesting event, it is good to call maintenance practice into question."
Fleet Engineer, Macquarie European Rail

"Well organised day with good informative speakers."
Traction & Rolling Stock Development Engineer, Direct Rail Services

Organising Committee:

Railway Division, Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Member Credits:
John Reddyhoff, Director, Reddyhoff Rail Limited
Martin Elliott, Principal Engineer, Aegis Certification Services
Andrew James, Engineering Manager, Avanti West Coast

Support your career development

Attending this event supports your Professional Development; if you're an IMechE Member, this can be tracked in the Career Developer section of your online account.

Day 1

12:45 - Seminar Programme

	Monday, 19 October 2020
	Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
12:45	Before the start of the main seminar, delegates will have the opportunity to join one of two facilitated roundtable discussions in order to network with other engineers and explore specific technical challenges in a less formal setting. These will take place via Microsoft Teams and will allow experts from across the rail sector to hear different perspectives and challenges faced by their peers. Roundtable Discussion 1: Challenging traditional approaches to the non-destructive testing of wheelsets John Reddyhoff, Director, Reddyhoff Rail Limited and Member, IMechE Railway Division Roundtable Discussion 2: Defining Wheelset maintenance ‘best practice’ to drive a reduction in life cycle cost Andrew James, Engineering Manager, Avanti West Coast and Chair, Wheelset Management Group
13:30	Break
14:15	Chair’s opening remarks John Reddyhoff, Director, Reddyhoff Rail Limited and Member, IMechE Railway Division
14:20	Keynote address: operator challenges – the engineering perspective Felix Schmid, Professor in the School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham and Chair, IMechE Railway Division
14:40	Question and Answer Session
14:45	Introduction to low adhesion & quantifying the benefits of sanders Liam Purcell, Principal Consultant & Team Leader, Intelligent Infrastructure, Ricardo Rail UK Andrew Lightoller, Principal Mechanical Engineer, DB ESG Deployment of Magnetic Track Brakes to control performance under low adhesion: current experiences in The Netherlands Marieke Schenker, Technical Consultant, Ricardo Rail Netherlands Jasper Peen, Senior Consultant, Ricardo Rail Netherlands
15:25	Question and Answer Session
15:45	Break
16:00	Update from the Wheelset Management Group Andrew James, Engineering Manager, Avanti West Coast and Chair, Wheelset Management Group
16:10	Question and Answer Session
16:15	Premium rail steels and their influence on wheels Lindsey Smith, Manager, Rail Technologies, British Steel · Introduction to rail steels · Do harder rails make wheels wear faster? · What happens if the wheels are harder than the rail?
16:35	Question and Answer Session
16:40	Chair’s closing remarks and end of day one

Day 2

13:00 - Seminar Programme

	Tuesday, 20 October 2020
13:00	Chair’s opening remarks Martin Elliott, Principal Engineer, AEGIS Certification Services Ltd
13:05	GOTCHA data management Peter Williams, Fleet Data & Performance Manager, Avanti West Coast Simon Groom, Wheelsets and Components Engineer, Alstom · Overview of the GOTCHA system with Avanti and Alstom · Improvements made to GOTCHA data and how this has helped improve wheelset maintenance and availability · New observations from the interaction of GOTCHA data with wheelset maintenance
13:25	Use of GOTCHA data in the rail freight industry Les Bryant, Group Engineering Director, Davis Wagon Services and Engineering Committee Chair, Private Wagon Federation · Experience of Davis Wagon Services use of the WILD system to monitor the overloading and offset loading of wagons · Observations on the accuracy of the system and implications for use · Future potential uses for WILD data
13:45	Caring for the contact patch Neil Cooney, Technical Director, SET Ltd · Wheels for life - step change in wheel wear (and rail) · Silent running - benefits of controlling wheelset rotational stiffness · Active steering - enabling efficient trains
14:05	Question and Answer Session
14:10	Break
14:55	Wheelset management using accurate real-time information – more life for less work David Vincent, Chief Technical Officer, Perpetuum Limited · Installing real-time condition monitoring to enable bearing maintenance management, eliminate in-service failures and improve bogie maintenance · Reducing the re-profiling required to maintain good wheel condition by up to 25% through application of wheel condition information · Analysing data from monitoring systems and from customer lathe records to demonstrate benefits and discuss possible mechanisms
	Panel Discussion
15:15	In this session, our panel of Wheelset data management experts will take questions live from the audience. Delegates will be able to submit their queries online, vote in polls, and hear from experts on how data can be used to maximise the value of critical rail components. Panellists: David Vincent, Chief Technical Officer, Perpetuum Limited Peter Williams, Fleet Data & Performance Manager, Avanti West Coast Les Bryant, Group Engineering Director, Davis Wagon Services and Engineering Committee Chair, Private Wagon Federation Simon Groom, Wheelsets and Components Engineer, Alstom
15:55	Chair’s closing remarks
16:00	End of seminar

Felix Schmid: Professor in the School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham and Chair, IMechE Railway Division

Felix Schmid graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland, with a diploma in elec¬trical and electronic engineering. He worked for two years as a software analyst in Zürich and Solothurn, in the days of microcomputers with 32kb of RAM and 32kb of programme memory. He then moved to GEC Traction (later to form part of Alstom) in Manchester, England, where he spent four years designing con¬trol systems for electric locomotives, at a time when sep-ex choppers were at the forefront of technology. Subsequently, he completed a one year spell at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), studying the non-galvanic measurement of electrical power. From UMIST he moved to the University of Salford to work as a mechanical design engineer on a knowledge transfer project with a machine tool manufacturer, where he later took a part-time role as an electrical systems designer.

From Salford, Felix transferred to Brunel University in West London to teach a then new subject, Computer Integrated Manufacturing. In this context he developed a new approach to engineering education that resulted in him being awarded a doctorate in engineering. After a year in Switzerland as a railway in¬spec¬tor looking after ‘private’ railways in the francophone part of the country, he returned to Britain, intending resume his post at Brunel. Serendipity intervened and brought him to the University of Sheffield where he was tasked with developing the MSc programme in Railway Systems Engineering and Integration. He also con¬ducted research into railway control systems and created railway short courses for London Under¬ground, Britain’s Railway Inspectorate and Bechtel.

Felix was appointed to a professorship at the University of Birmingham In 2005, with the remit from the University of Sheffield to move the railway MSc programme to a new home. This led to a new title for the programme, namely, MSc in Railway Systems Engineering and Integration. The move was accompanied by a significant update to the con¬tent to reflect developments in the rail industry, in the UK and worldwide. The MSc programme grew rapidly in its new home and gained a worldwide reputation. This spawned the development of a Master of Research programme and of a new MSc in Railway Risk and Safety Management, in collaboration with the University of York and funded by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. At the University of Birmingham, Felix and his team are based in the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), the largest railway focused research centre in the West. Within BCRRE, Felix became heavily involved in research into rail¬way capacity and systems engineering.

Felix has led the new postgraduate programme in Urban Railway Engineering for Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Institute (SMRTi) since autumn 2016. This programme currently has some 250 students in Singapore and Felix takes a team of 15 academic staff from Birmingham to Singapore twice a year. He is also developing a new version of the MSc programme in Railway Risk and Safety Management. This is being created jointly with the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers and is expected to exempt successful graduates from the IRSE examination.

In February 2018, The University of Birmingham received a Queens Award for Higher and Further Education, an achievement of which Felix is very proud.

Liam Purcell: Principal Consultant & Team Leader, Intelligent Infrastructure, Ricardo Rail UK

Liam is currently working as a Principal Consultant at Ricardo Rail, and leads the Asset Optimisation team. Liam is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the ICE and PWI, with seventeen years’ experience in the railway industry.

After initially joining AEA Technology Rail /DeltaRail as a graduate in 2003, he worked as a track consultant focussing on vehicle-track interaction and derailment investigation. Liam joined Lloyd’s Register Rail (now Ricardo Rail) in 2012 to specialise in wheel-rail adhesion, asset management and independent assurance of infrastructure projects.

Andrew Lightoller: Principal Mechanical Engineer, DB ESG

Andrew is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and member of the IMechE. He started his career in the rail industry as a graduate engineer at Bombardier where he took over as Brakes engineer on the Classic project before experiencing various engineering placements. Andrew moved to Atkins as a Brakes & Pneumatics Engineer in 2001. In 2014, Andrew moved to DB ESG after their acquisition of WSPER and works as a Principal Mechanical Engineer involved with WSPER, brake testing, including the recent T1107 Class 387 DVRS testing and Class 323 pilot study, and other general consultancy work.

Marieke Schenker: Technical Consultant, Ricardo Rail Netherlands

Marieke is a Technical Consultant at Ricardo Rail Utrecht, The Netherlands. She graduated from the faculty of Mechanical engineering at Delft University of technology in 2011 and spent the next few years as a researcher in fluid dynamics before starting at Ricardo in 2016.

At Ricardo, Marieke specializes in brake systems, both in consultancy and certification. Her work thus far includes the redesign of brake systems, brake testing, NoBo-certification of freight wagons and passenger trains and parametrisation of train safety systems (Dutch system ATB).

Jasper Peen: Senior Consultant, Ricardo Rail Netherlands

Jasper is a skilled senior technical consultant with extensive experience in the optimisation and improvement of the performance and safety of rolling stock running gear and brake systems. Areas of speciality include all phenomena related to running gear, including noise and vibration, fatigue, crack growth and NDT, brake performance and adhesion. In addition, Jasper has wide knowledge of noise regulations, safety philosophies, statistics and maintenance processes. He has much experience with procurement, design and modification and certification of bogies and wheelsets. He has assisted a range of customers with safety analyses, investigating failure and solving fatigue problems to wheel sets and bogies and noise reduction by modification of existing fleets, drawing on his practical knowledge of railway operation and maintenance.

Lindsey Smith: Manager, Rail Technologies, British Steel

Dr Lindsey Smith is a passionate Chartered Engineer and has a background in understanding the Wheel / Rail interface. Lindsey started her career on the railways back in 2002 researching the dependence of friction on rolling contact fatigue before moving into rail manufacture. Lindsey currently works as Rail Technologies Manager for British Steel and leads a team of rail technical specialists delivering product development, customer technical support and consultancy services.

Peter Williams: Fleet Data & Performance Manager, Avanti West Coast

Peter is the Fleet & Performance Data Manager and has responsibility for maintenance and provision of fleet performance data at Avanti West Coast.

Peter joined Virgin Trains in 2015 to work on data analysis for the Fleet management Group, and during this time has worked on and overseen many exciting developments in fleet data and its use for improving reliability, safety and commercial decision making on the fleet. Before this Peter worked for 6 years within the Water Industry in various roles which included analysing asset performance monitoring data, asset maintenance modelling and asset risk assessment.

This year Peter completed an MSc in Railway Systems Engineering & Integration as part of continual professional development towards seeking chartership.

Simon Groom: Project Leader R&D, Alstom

Simon is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer who has principal responsibility for the engineering aspects of the maintenance and overhaul of the Class 390 Pendolino Wheelsets. Simon joined British Rail as a graduate trainee in 1995, followed by Virgin Trains and finally Alstom, and has worked in a number of roles within the railway business, such as warranty management, production management and research and development in France. Simon has been in his present role as Wheelsets and Components Engineer since 2012 with engineering responsibility for the maintenance and overhaul of the Class 390 wheelsets, and in this time has overseen improvements to safety, reliability, maintainability and life cycle costs.

Les Bryant: Group Engineering Director, Davis Wagon Services, Engineering Committee Chair, Private Wagon Federation

Les is Vice Chair of the Private Wagon Federation (PWF) and Chair of the PWF Engineering Committee. He started his railway career in 1978 as a BR apprentice fitter. He spent 23 years in the passenger industry, mainly on the LTS/C2C line, working through the BR workshop’s supervisory grades, rising to a WS/E Senior Rolling Stock Inspector.

In 1998 he was seconded to Adtranz/Bombardier as a project engineer on Electrostars, before moving to the Freight Industry in 2001 with GE Rail Services as a UK Fleet Engineer. He eventually became European Engineering Manager with responsibility for a fleet of 5000 wagons across Europe.

Neil Cooney: Technical Director, SET Ltd

Neil is the Technical Director at SET Limited, a Systems Engineering and Electronics rectification SME. He joined SET to lead a team in developing the WheelMotor, an innovative rail wheel traction system. Successful trials brought further exploration into the potential of the WheelMotor and, working alongside the IRR, the subsequent development of ActiWheel, a radical guidance and steering system for rail vehicles that significantly reduces wear, energy consumption and environmental impact. Previous to his position at SET, he was a chief engineer with Perkins Engines, leading teams in the design and integration of control electronics into mechanical platforms, addition of engine emission aftertreatment technologies and running International JV engine development and production programmes. Neil’s current focus is on applying the WheelMotor and ActiWheel technologies to commercial projects within the rail industry.

David Vincent: Chief Technical Officer, Perpetuum Limited

David has a PhD in instrumentation and a 35-year career in developing instrumentation and information systems for industry. After joining Perpetuum as Engineering Director in 2011, the first axle bearing remote condition monitoring system was deployed in early 2012 with a fleet deployment in late 2013, when wheel condition was added to the system. Since then David has worked with rail industry partners to deliver the information necessary for change in asset management and has been a member of the RSSB Wheelset Management Group since 2019.

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