Implementation of Wheelset Life Optimisation Strategies

Wheelset management is one of the most safety critical and costly activities in rolling stock maintenance. Effective wheelset management is fundamental to ensure adherence to safety standards and reduce whole life costs. Typically, this is achieved using a schedule-based preventative maintenance strategy where interventions are prescribed at fixed operational intervals (e.g., mileage or time based). The efficiency of wheelset management can however be significantly improved through the selection of the most appropriate maintenance strategy. Previous research, undertaken by University of Huddersfield in partnership with Siemens, developed a methodology and software tools to evaluate strategies for extending wheelset life using a combination of physical and data-driven modelling approaches. The continuous degradation and lifecycle of a wheelset with cumulative operation can be estimated using the developed approach. The influence of the evolution of damage on the material removal at the wheel lathe can be determined and, in combination with the constraints applied to the maintenance such as safety and intervention limits (e.g., flange height/thickness limits, minimum wheel diameter) and wheel lathe capacity, the lifecycle of the wheelset can be estimated. Whilst this previous research has shown that the models of the wheelset maintenance decision processes provide an effective tool for quantifying the optimal wheelset maintenance strategies, further work is required to fully exploit the outputs from this previous research and maximise its impact, this includes providing Siemens with the information required to implement the proposed engineering changes on the Thameslink Class 700 fleet and to incorporate the models into the Siemens Railigent platform. The proposed IAA project aims to extend the previous modelling to evaluate the optimum wheelset maintenance strategies for the Thameslink Class 700 fleet and identify a priority list of engineering changes (which provide extend wheelset life and reduced life-cycle costs) for future implementation by Siemens. The project will also support Siemens in obtaining approval for these engineering changes and in setting up a monitoring programme to quantify the impact of the proposed changes. A specification for how the tools can be converted into a Railigent application will also be developed to allow Siemens to exploit the tools across its organisation and identify areas for future research and developments. Finally, the work (and previous research) will be disseminated to industry stakeholder groups (in the UK and Internationally) and two high-quality journal publications will be developed. It is anticipated that the work proposed within the IAA project will provide significant benefits to both the academic and industrial partners, including two high-quality journal publications, trial of engineering changes identified by developed modelling tools, exploitation of modelling tools by Siemens and evidence for use in future REF Impact Case Studies.