Brakes of rail vehicles
Reliable and functional brakes on rail vehicles are an essential prerequisite for safe railway operations. This requires the proper design and testing of the braking systems. The fundamentals necessary for this are provided in the course.
Building on this, the course establishes the systemic connection between the appropriate design of brakes and the operational assessment of braking performance for both conventional and high-speed rail traffic. The European brake management system based on ETCS for train control through the calculation of brake run curves is also introduced.
Main Topics
- Characterization of energy conversion machines
- Force closure theory of wheel/rail interaction during braking
- Tribological properties of friction pairs
- Mechanics of the braking process
- Control mechanisms of brake management
- Fluid mechanics of air brakes
- Design and dimensioning of friction and dynamic brakes
- Assessment of braking performance of vehicles and trains
- Brake operations and brake testing
- Brake technology for high-speed trains
Time / Location
Course dates and locations are announced via OPAL. Interested students can enroll in the OPAL course “Brakes of rail vehicles”
Lecturer
Dipl.-Ing. Fred Kupfer
References
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Lecture downloads
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Dieter Jaenichen (Publ.): Braking technology for railway vehicles (in German), GRT Global Rail Academy and Media GmbH
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Grundlagen der Schienenfahrzeugbremse, AET 43, Archiv für Eisenbahntechnik, Hestra-Verlag
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Grundausrüstungen, Chapter 3: Brake Systems, Transpress, Verlag für Verkehrswesen
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DIN EN 14531: Procedures for calculating stopping and deceleration brake distances and the parking brake
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DIN EN 13452: Brakes – Brake systems for public transport