Angst+Pfister AG
Angst+Pfister: Co-design for Extreme Requirements
Together with Siemens Mobility Austria GmbH (Fahrwerke Graz), Angst+Pfister developed rubber-metal buffers for limiting longitudinal traction in bogies for rail vehicles. The homogenous single-component rubber compound from Angst+Pfister sets standards in combination with the European fire protection regulations. In addition, not only were the excellent sliding properties of the stops required – the engineers also designed a component whose stiffness had to follow an extremely narrowly tolerated characteristic curve.
With their many years of transport expertise, Siemens Mobility sets standards for tomorrow’s mobility and is constantly developing new solutions. The rail transport sector comprises vehicles, infrastructure and automation solutions – from light rail through regional transport to high-speed lines.
Damping Longitudinal Movements and Structure-Borne Noise
Wheelsets of rail vehicles are attached to bogies. They allow rotations in relation to the car body. The primary suspension is provided by dampers between the wheel axles and the bogie. The secondary suspension takes place between the bogie and the car body, which are connected to each other by a pivot bearing. When accelerating or braking, longitudinal movements occur between the car body and the bogie. In addition, structure-borne noise is transmitted. Both would affect the comfort for the passengers in the body. To prevent this, a so-called plunger pin projects from the secondary suspension into two rubber-metal buffers. These are mounted on one side of the bogie by means of an adapter plate and on the other side come into contact with the plunger pin with a slight preload. For this reason, the buffers end there with a plastic plate, which must have good sliding properties with a long operating life.
