Angst+Pfister AG
Angst+Pfister – High Performance Elastomer Compounds – The Multi-Taskers
«When it comes to the fire prevention properties of elastomer compounds, we are at the cutting edge,» says Michael Forrer. Angst+Pfister’s engineers have developed two new components for Bombardier: A vertical buffer and a layer spring – to raise the comfort level for passengers on a new tram, while ensuring maximum safety.
«Creating a good balance between fire protection and mechanical properties is an art in itself.»
Michael Forrer, Senior Engineer Antivibration Technology, Angst+Pfister Group
If, in the not too distant future, you travel by tram across the city of Vienna, your relaxed journey will, in part, be due to elastomer compounds made by Angst+Pfister. The components were created as a joint development project with the manufacturer Bombardier for «Flexity Vienna». «Bombardier gave us rigorous specifications for the design of the components. However, they were open to proposals for improvements,» recounts Michael Forrer. For the senior engineer for Anti-vibration Technology at Angst+Pfister’s headquarters in Zurich, this was sufficient motivation to go that proverbial extra mile: «We have a high level of expertise for developments like this. So we leapt at the chance and contributed a few suggestions.» Consequently, the new components are the result of a co-design with the customer. «Our input enabled Bombardier to perform new finite element analysis on each of the components – until the product satisfied the very strin- gent requirements,» adds Michael Forrer. The specific objectives were a layer spring and a vertical buffer.
