The aim of the proposed GEARBODIES project is to develop new inspection methods and technology for the inspection of new materials in carbody applications, and to employ innovative approaches for developing novel concepts with enhanced lifetime for key running gear components.

The GEARBODIES project will work towards the development of cost-efficient and reliable trains by contributing with specific innovations identified by the call to Technology Demonstrators (TD) of Innovation Programme 1 (IP1) within Shift2Rail, through two dedicated work streams:

-  Work Stream 1 (WS1): Inspection methods for carbodies using new materials (TD1.3) which aims to develop effective and affordable solutions for inspecting carbodies that are using new lightweight materials
-  Work Stream 2 (WS2): Innovative approaches for developing running gear components (TD1.4) which aims to employ innovative approaches, tools and methods for developing novel concept designs of running gear components.

The two Work Streams of GEARBODIES will actively contribute to improving the efficiency, safety and competitiveness of the European railway sector by supporting the implementation and exploitation of innovative materials and practices, with profound impacts on the cost-efficiency and reliability of the sector, as well as on its energy consumption and infrastructure maintenance. Inspection time will be significantly reduced, while the use of new materials and systems will enable an increase in the lifetime of components and lower maintenance costs and LCC.

In addition, the GEARBODIES consortium will liaise and work together with Shift2Rail members to allow for correlating and/or implementing their innovations into the final technological demonstrators (TDs) namely: TD1.3 “Carbody Shell Demonstrator” for WS1 and TD 1.4 “Running Gear Demonstrator” for WS2, contributing thus to the overall Shift2Rail IP1 strategy.

GEARBODIES WS1 Specific Objectives:

• Research and assessment of the most effective non-destructive testing (NDT) methods and techniques (focusing on thermography and ultrasonic) for the inspection and detection of typical defects on composites and hybrid materials used in novel carbody shell applications.
• Development and validation in a representative environment (TRL5) of two new NDT inspection techniques, one based on thermography and another one based on ultrasonic technology for the effective inspection of composite (monolithic and sandwich) and hybrid structures of the carbody from the exterior side of the vehicle.
• Implementation of a software for the automated recognition and assessment of typical defects on carbody shells customised for developed thermography and ultrasonic techniques.
• Implementation and validation of a prototype mobile modular platform integrating the thermography and ultrasonic devices (TRL6), which will be capable of reducing the inspection and assessment time of a carbody shell to 12 hours. The prototype equipment will be validated both on a relevant vehicle and environment available within the GEARBODIES consortium and through inspection of the carbody shell prototype provided by the complementary project PIVOT2.

• Development, testing and validation of a new elastomer formulation with enhanced lifetime and LCC.
• Investigation regarding potential use of novel elastomer materials (e.g., emerging on the market or used in other industries) for low LCC and high lifetime running gear components.
• Design, prototype and validation at TRL4 of relevant elastomer-based running gear components based on new elastomer formulated in the project and/or on other novel elastomers selected in agreement with PIVOT2), and on the development of improved elastomer-metal interfaces.
• Manufacture of elastomer-based running gear prototype components that have been validated at TRL4, and provide them to the complementary project for further testing in a field application.
• Investigation and validation at TRL3/4 of innovative solutions for journal bearings with longer lifetime and low LCC (including new materials, lubrication solutions and optimised geometries).
• Design, prototyping and validation at TRL5 of a new journal bearing concept integrating the most promising innovations developed within the project.
• Study on vehicle dynamics and vehicle running behaviour through modelling and simulation, before and after the implementation of the innovations, to evaluate the effect and overall performance of the new innovative concepts (journal bearings and elastomer-based components).
• Develop a tool for the assessment of LCC and lifetime of running gear components to support the optimisation of maintenance procedures and increase of the overhaul time.