The design and construction of a new ‘constrained layer’ damping treatment for railway wheels is presented. A numerical procedure was used for the loss factor calculation. This procedure, first verified on a plate by means of experimental modal analyses, allowed the best treatment thickness and arrangement to be chosen among those commercially available and technologically feasible. The work ended with the construction of a prototype and subsequent tests in the laboratory and in the field. The success of these tests justified the start of production of low-noise wheels treated in this way.

, awarded with "The Alfred Rosling Bennett Premium/Charles S Lake Award 1998

A review of current international specifications for forged pressure vessel (PV) components has shown that the steelmaking requirements are sometimes in conflict with the reality of worldwide installed facilities. A comparative investigation of three melts of SA-508 Class 3 steel has proven that vacuum carbon deoxidation offers toughness properties, even in the heat-affected zone, that are at least comparable with those obtained with the conventional fine-grain practice. Manufacturing experience with large hollow ingots, up to 181 metric tons, yielded quality results definitely comparable to those achieved with conventional hot pierced ingots. A review of specified post-weld heat treatments (PWHTs) has suggested that during PWHT some zones of a pressure vessel could undergo temperatures never reached either during the previous tempering treatments or during the simulated PWHT of acceptance test coupons. PWHTs at relatively high temperatures, therefore, should be avoided, especially for the 2.25Cr-1Mo steel.