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Engineering Commons

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Mechanical Engineering

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University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

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2020

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Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Optimizing Power Consumption Of Freight Railroad Bearings Using Laboratory Experimental Data, Carlos E. Lopez Iii, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo A. Fuentes, Harry Siegal Jul 2020

Optimizing Power Consumption Of Freight Railroad Bearings Using Laboratory Experimental Data, Carlos E. Lopez Iii, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo A. Fuentes, Harry Siegal

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Based on projected freight truck fuel efficiency, freight railroad and equipment suppliers need to identify, evaluate and implement technologies and/or operating practices to maintain traditional railroad economic competitiveness. The railway industry uses systems that record the total energy efficiency of a train but not energy efficiency or consumption by components. Lowering the energy consumption of certain train components will result in an increase in its overall energy efficiency, which will yield cost benefits for all the stakeholders. One component of interest is the railroad bearing whose power consumption varies depending on several factors that include railcar load, train speed, condition …


Optimization Of Railroad Bearing Health Monitoring System For Wireless Utilization, Jonas Cuanang, Constantine Tarawneh, Martin Amaro Jr., Jennifer Lima, Heinrich D. Foltz Jul 2020

Optimization Of Railroad Bearing Health Monitoring System For Wireless Utilization, Jonas Cuanang, Constantine Tarawneh, Martin Amaro Jr., Jennifer Lima, Heinrich D. Foltz

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the railroad industry, systematic health inspections of freight railcar bearings are required. Bearings are subjected to high loads and run at high speeds, so over time the bearings may develop a defect that can potentially cause a derailment if left in service operation. Current bearing condition monitoring systems include Hot-Box Detectors (HBDs) and Trackside Acoustic Detection Systems (TADS™). The commonly used HBDs use non-contact infrared sensors to detect abnormal temperatures of bearings as they pass over the detector. Bearing temperatures that are about 94°C above ambient conditions will trigger an alarm indicating that the bearing must be removed from …