Chapter 4. Establishing a high-quality technical condition at the design stage: promising concepts of load-bearing components of car structures

Most often in the practice of creating multifunctional technical means, a combination of elements that are separate in terms of their functions is used. Its main directions include: connecting different levels of the constructive hierarchy (modules, nodes, basic elements) of components without changing their forms and properties, and with mutual coordination of forms and properties; introducing new principles of functioning to car constructs on the existing element base and on a new element base; taking into account at the design stage the prerequisites for the constructive implementation of future innovative design solutions.

Today, the most promising from the point of view of the practical creation of multifunctional freight car components are the following directions identified and presented in detail in the article: elastic-dissipative, non-rigid articulated and multi-material. It was the solution of such a scientific and applied task that became the aim of the research, the results of which are presented in this section of the monograph.

To achieve the aim, the following scientific and applied objectives were identified and solved: analysis of information sources that highlight the issues of the prospects for the development of non-load-bearing components of freight car structures; development of a mathematical description of the procedure for creating car components with a useful pre-stressed and/or deformed state; development of theoretical aspects of creating useful pre-stressed and/or deformed non-load-bearing components of car structures; development of a promising useful pre-stressed and/or deformed concept of a covered hopper car for transporting cement and a pellet car, a platform car from leaf springs, a hopper car for transporting grain from leaf springs, a hopper car for transporting mineral fertilizers from leaf springs, a hollow-bottomed gondola car made of leaf springs, a universal covered car with racks with damping properties, a universal hopper car for transporting grain with racks with damping properties; development of a promising concept of a railway tank car with supports in the form of leaf and disc springs; development of a promising articulated concept of a 4-axle dump car, a hopper car for transporting grain and mineral fertilizers, a universal platform car, a universal covered car, a hollow-bottomed gondola, a railway tank; development of a promising multi-material concept of a covered car and a railway tank; development of a promising railway tank with a multi-material concept of supports; systematization of the obtained developments and formulation of general conclusions.

The presented directions for creating multifunctional components of freight cars will allow to obtain positive results in their manufacture and operation. Such positive results include: increasing the life cycle of the studied means, reducing their material consumption and increasing the load-bearing capacity, improving maintainability, increasing crack resistance, reducing/completely eliminating stresses of different signs.