Design and Analysis of Novel Metallic Structural Concepts for Lightweight Freight Railcars

Molavitabrizi, Danial

doi:10.22215/etd/2018-13247

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(135 reference statements)

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“…Additional information on the material selection was described by Molavitabrizi. 15 Thus, the only design variable would be topology. Since the goal of this research is to develop a lightweight structure, only low-density cores (cellular cores) are considered.…”

Section: Core Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methodology for multiscale design and optimization of lattice core sandwich structures for lightweight hopper railcars

Molavitabrizi

Laliberté

2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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This research is focused on developing new lightweight structures for railcars based on a pre-selected material, i.e. Al 2099. The goal is to design a new sandwich structure with an octet truss lattice core for a floor panel of a hopper freight railcar designed to meet North American standards. For that, mesoscale to macroscale design of the sandwich panel was performed. In mesoscale design, relative density, elastic properties, strength properties, and failure criterion of the lattice unit cell were investigated. In the next step, these properties were used as inputs for macroscale design, i.e. design of the whole sandwich structure. Multiple failure modes associated with the lateral loading of a sandwich panel were analyzed. These equations in conjunction with the minimum weight target led to an optimization problem, and the minimum required thicknesses were obtained. Finally, the new optimized design was validated by comparing different finite element simulations with the exact analytical equations. By using this type of structure, a 53% weight reduction was achieved on the floor panel which ultimately led to an estimated 12.5% reduction in the weight of the whole freight railcar body.

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Section: Core Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Configuration design and CAD modeling of a typical covered hopper car was done by Molavitabrizi. 15 According to that, the whole floor panel is supported by four stiffeners. These stiffeners divide the panel into five sub-panels with nearly identical overall aspect ratios as shown in Figure 3.…”

Section: Macroscale Designmentioning

confidence: 99%