Project Details

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Locomotive Compressed Air - Advanced Rail Cleaner (ARC) Valve Redesign

Company: Wabtec

Major(s):
Primary: ME

Optional: ESC, IE, MATSE

Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES

Intellectual Property: YES

ARC Magnet Valves are used to increase adhesion between the rail and wheel, thus increasing locomotive “Haulage-ability.” This enables longer trains for the same number of locomotives, thus improving overall efficiency. The ARC Valves apply high-flowing compressed air to the rail immediately ahead of the leading wheels to remove debris, water, and snow from the rail. The result is a dry rail that is “Conditioned” for maximum adhesion. The compressed air engineering team has used the existing ARC Valve Assembly since 2012. However, during this time we have experienced a common failure mode that requires mechanically disabling the ARC system. When disabled, the ARC system no longer functions as intended and train overall performance suffers. This common failure mode is grease being wiped away by the wet, high flow air passing through it causing high spool-to-body friction and spool seizure. This Capstone project is to propose design changes that shall address the fundamental reliability and maintainability issues of the current ARC Valve Assemblies. The project should include FEA & CFD including stress, deformation to confirm proper airflow delivery/structural acceptance. Team should recommend validation activities for design demonstration. Analysis must consider all application needs – flow, duty cycle, shock, vibration, thermal, etc. Stretch Goal - Solution must be retrofittable and operate successfully on existing locomotive ARC Systems. Stretch Goal – Perform functional testing. Test each of the existing ARC Valve Assembly designs to establish baseline functionality. Procure the proposed, alternative valve and perform functional testing to demonstrate functional interchangeability.