Combined Structural and Multibody Optimization of Railway Vehicle Components: Application to a Railway Bogie

The growth of the railway sector pushes rolling stock manufacturers to find new structural solutions for reducing the overall design time of the main vehicle components. Within a market where details can make the difference in economic terms, the concept of design optimization is becoming established. Structural optimization processes represent an effective strategy for reducing manufacturing costs, resulting in geometries easier to design and produce. In this framework, the present paper proposes a new methodology to innovate railway bogie frame. It combines CAD, Finite Element Method and multibody environments. The optimization approach introduces also manufacturing constraints oriented to sandcasting process. An automatic loop allows fast iterations to assess the running dynamic of the whole vehicle. Object of the research work was the innovation of a tramway bogie frame. The project resulted in an innovative design of the component, feasible with sand-casting manufacturing technique. It showed optimal mechanical performance, with a reduction about 26% of the maximum stress calculated and an equivalent dynamics behaviour.