Bogie Characterization

In high-speed rail, passenger safety depends on the reliability of the bogie and the car, both of which are subject to highly complex loading, with multiple types of loads occurring at different times. Rail characterization strives to evaluate the bogie (including wheels, axles and bearings) as well as entire rail cars. The goal is to measure stiffness, moments of inertia and damping with exceptional accuracy to improve the reliability of advanced computer modeling techniques used to design bogies and rail cars that optimize speed and stability.

MTS offers extensive experience in rail characterization testing. We understand the unique demands placed on rail test engineers to evaluate increasingly complex designs with speed and cost-efficiency. To this end, MTS provides the expertise and the technology required to precisely control forces and motions and accurately measure both. Important offerings for rail characterization testing include:

• Custom solutions for both bogie and full-scale structural static and dynamic
   characterization
• High-performance, fatigue-rated actuators
• Highly stiff servohydraulic load frames for a range of force requirements
• Powerful software for data validation, analysis, simulation and test monitoring
• Digital controllers with high channel density, high capacity and superior configurability
• Clean, quiet hydraulic power units