Application of Composite Material (Fiber Glass) on Addis Ababa Light Railway Car body and It Structural Analysis by FEM
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Date
2017-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis presents the application of composite of composite for the AALRT car body structure.In the past few decades emission of gases by the vehicle has got attention due to its immense effect on the environment. The amount a gas mitted by the vehicle is directly related with the amount of fuel consumption .the higher the fuel consumption the higher the emission by the vehicle. One of the major factors that contribute for the high fuel consumption of the vehicle is it‟s high dead weight. Beside to the high fuel consumption, large dead weigh lengthens the manufacturing time of vehicle. This urges the automotive manufacture to look for a solution so as to minimize the weight of the vehicle without compromising of its static and fatigue strength, crashworthiness and stiffness. That is to have light weight vehicle system.
Railway carriage can be divided into three main assemblies the running gears, car body structure and equipment (propulsion, interior, car body etc.).Thus to have light weight railway vehicle system weight reduction for the either the sub assembly shall has to be done. However the most effective approach in terms of cost and complexity of the vehicle system is to reduce the weight car body structure by using composite materials which light weight material but have the desired capability.
The light weight, high crashworthiness, high fatigue and static strength, high stiffness and in corrosiveness behaviour of the composite makes them as suitable material for the car body structure as compared to the steel, the material which has been used for the railway car body structure. This thesis present the application of composite material for the AALRT car body structure .For sake of comparison of composite with that of steel static analysis has been done based using SOLIDWORK software .The result shows that composite are capable of producing lower deformation and stress ranging 40-66 5% and 32% respectively for the similar loads applied on them, while minimizing the weight of car body structure by 67%
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Car body Structure, Light Weight System, Dead Weight, Composite Material