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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
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
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 …
Prototyping A Conductive Polymer Steering Pad For Rail Freight Service, Anthony A. Villarreal, Constantine Tarawneh, Miguel Ontiveros, James Aranda, Robert Jones
Prototyping A Conductive Polymer Steering Pad For Rail Freight Service, Anthony A. Villarreal, Constantine Tarawneh, Miguel Ontiveros, James Aranda, Robert Jones
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The AdapterPlus™ steering pad is a polymer component on a railcar that helps to reduce stresses on the axle as a railcar rounds a curve. One railway application requires a minimum of 240 mA to be passed through the steering pad to the rail, which activates air valves that control automated cargo gates. Currently, two copper studs are inserted into the pad to provide a conductive path. However, after continuous cyclic loading caused by normal service operation, the copper studs deform, wear, and eventually lose contact between the two surfaces rendering the pad nonconductive. One proposed solution to this problem …
Defect Prognostics Models For Spall Growth In Railroad Bearing Rolling Elements, Nancy De Los Santos, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones, Arturo A. Fuentes
Defect Prognostics Models For Spall Growth In Railroad Bearing Rolling Elements, Nancy De Los Santos, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones, Arturo A. Fuentes
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Prevention of railroad bearing failures, which may lead to catastrophic derailments, is a central safety concern. Early detection of railway component defects, specifically bearing spalls, will improve overall system reliability by allowing proactive maintenance cycles rather than costly reactive replacement of failing components. A bearing health monitoring system will provide timely detection of flaws. However, absent a well verified model for defect propagation, detection can only be used to trigger an immediate component replacement. The development of such a model requires that the spall growth process be mapped out by accumulating associated signals generated by various size spalls. The addition …
Hysteresis Heating Of Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones
Hysteresis Heating Of Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE’s) are increasingly being used in rail service in load damping applications. They are superior to traditional elastomers primarily in their ease of fabrication. Like traditional elastomers they offer benefits including reduction in noise emissions and improved wear resistance in metal components that are in contact with such parts in the railcar suspension system. However, viscoelastic materials, such as the railroad bearing thermoplastic elastomer suspension element (or elastomeric pad), are known to develop self-heating (hysteresis) under cyclic loading, which can lead to undesirable consequences. Quantifying the hysteresis heating of the pad during operation is therefore essential to predict …
Development Of Prognostic Techniques For Surface Defect Growth In Railroad Bearing Rolling Elements, Nancy De Los Santos, Robert Jones, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo A. Fuentes, Anthony Villarreal
Development Of Prognostic Techniques For Surface Defect Growth In Railroad Bearing Rolling Elements, Nancy De Los Santos, Robert Jones, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo A. Fuentes, Anthony Villarreal
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Prevention of bearing failures which may lead to catastrophic derailment is a major safety concern for the railroad industry. Advances in bearing condition monitoring hold the promise of early detection of bearing defects, which will improve system reliability by permitting early replacement of failing components. However, to minimize disruption to operations while providing the maximum level of accident prevention that early detection affords, it will be necessary to understand the defect growth process and try to quantify the growth speed to permit economical, non-disruptive replacement of failing components rather than relying on immediate removal upon detection. The study presented here …
Temperature Profiles Of Railroad Tapered Roller Bearings With Defective Inner And Outer Rings, Constantine Tarawneh, Luz Sotelo, Anthony A. Villarreal, Nancy De Los Santos, Ryan L. Lechtenberg, Robert Jones
Temperature Profiles Of Railroad Tapered Roller Bearings With Defective Inner And Outer Rings, Constantine Tarawneh, Luz Sotelo, Anthony A. Villarreal, Nancy De Los Santos, Ryan L. Lechtenberg, Robert Jones
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
In the railroad industry, monitoring the condition of key components such as bearings and wheels is vital to ensure the safe transport of goods and commodities. Bearing seizures are amongst the most dangerous types of failures experienced by trains because they occur unexpectedly and may lead to costly derailments. Current bearing health monitoring techniques include tracking the temperature and acoustic emissions given by the bearings. Although temperature histories of railroad tapered roller bearings are readily available, the literature does not provide information relating the temperature profiles to the severity of the bearing defect. The study presented here investigates the correlation …
Heat Generation In The Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Juan Carbone, Arturo A. Fuentes, Robert E. Jones, Constantine Tarawneh
Heat Generation In The Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Juan Carbone, Arturo A. Fuentes, Robert E. Jones, Constantine Tarawneh
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The main purpose of this ongoing study is to investigate the effect of heat generation within a railroad thermoplastic elastomer suspension element on the thermal behavior of the railroad bearing assembly. Specifically, the purpose of this project is to quantify the heat generated by cyclic loading of the elastomer suspension element as a function of load amplitude, loading frequency, and operating temperature. The contribution of the elastomer pad to the system energy balance is modeled using data from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of the specific materials in use for that part. DMA is a technique that is commonly used to …
Fatigue Life Estimation Of Modified Railroad Bearing Adapters For Onboard Monitoring Applications, Alexis Trevino, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Joseph Montalvo
Fatigue Life Estimation Of Modified Railroad Bearing Adapters For Onboard Monitoring Applications, Alexis Trevino, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Joseph Montalvo
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper presents a study of the fatigue life (i.e. number of stress cycles before failure) of Class K cast iron conventional and modified railroad bearing adapters for onboard monitoring applications under different operational conditions based on experimentally validated Finite Element Analysis (FEA) stress results. Currently, freight railcars rely heavily on wayside hot-box detectors (HBDs) at strategic intervals to record bearing cup temperatures as the train passes at specified velocities. Hence, most temperature measurements are limited to certain physical railroad locations. This limitation gave way for an optimized sensor that could potentially deliver significant insight on continuous bearing temperature conditions. …
Structural Integrity Of Conventional And Modified Railroad Bearing Adapters For Onboard Monitoring, Joseph Montalvo, Alexis Trevino, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh
Structural Integrity Of Conventional And Modified Railroad Bearing Adapters For Onboard Monitoring, Joseph Montalvo, Alexis Trevino, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper presents a detailed study of the structural integrity of conventional and modified railroad bearing adapters for onboard monitoring applications. Freight railcars rely heavily on weigh bridges and stations to determine cargo load. As a consequence, most load measurements are limited to certain physical railroad locations. This limitation provided an opportunity for an optimized sensor that could potentially deliver significant insight on bearing condition monitoring as well as load information. Bearing adapter modifications (e.g. cut outs) were necessary to house the sensor and, thus, it is imperative to determine the reliability of the modified railroad bearing adapter, which will …