Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

12-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Constantine Tarawneh

Second Advisor

Dr. Arturo Fuentes

Third Advisor

Dr. Horacio Vasquez

Abstract

Throughout the railway industry, trains use systems that record total energy efficiency of a train but not energy efficiency or consumption by components. Monitoring freight bearing power consumption can support the railroad industry efforts to maintain the railroad economic competitiveness and minimize the environmental impact.

For more than a decade now, the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) has been collecting power consumption data for railroad bearings under various loads, speeds, ambient temperatures, bearing condition, and bearing classes. Specifically, data such as temperatures, voltages, speed, and load were collected to perform an experimental analysis of the power consumption of a four-bearing axle. After obtaining an energy consumption profiles relative to the speed and load, each bearing was analyzed using the temperatures collected and theoretical values of conduction and convection to obtain an experimental value of power consumption. This paper will discuss the experimental setup and the comparison between estimations and findings of energy consumption of bearings as function of railcar load, train speed, condition of bearing, and bearing class whether it is healthy or defective, and type of defect.

Comments

Copyright 2020 Carlos Eliasar Lopez III. All Rights Reserved.

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/utrgv.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/optimizing-energy-power-consumption-freight/docview/2559692080/se-2?accountid=7119

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