Optimisation of traction and fixing systems in suspended monorails

Abstract

Means of transport are a key point in the development of countries and the population interconnection, so the continuous improvement of them is an obligation and a challenge as well. The mean of transport selected for improvement is the monorail, which serves as a single rail track to transport cargo or passengers. In most cases, the monorail drives around suspension, but can also drive at ground level or tunnels. The aim of this work is the analysis of the optimisation design and technical feasibility of the traction and fixing systems of the monorail. A comparative technical analysis of these systems has been carried out to quantify them, assessing the strengths and weaknesses. Once the system idea to develop and optimise is defined, basic parameters and characteristics of the system are detailed, commercial elements are selected and a traction-fixing system model is modelled. The traction-fixing system has also been optimised with various loading limited conditions like static, modal and thermal analysis. FEM with Abaqus/CAE and CAD-CAM modelling with AutoCAD have been used in this work.