Wabtec
Overhead, a current of electrical energy is on the move. Several tens of tonnes of metal glide through the city, with passengers paying scant attention to the infrastructure getting them from A to B.
Even those curious enough to look beyond the timetable as their train pulls into the station might regard the cables, wiring and pantograph that are transferring electricity from the overhead line into the train, but the manifold that facilitates this transmission, for example, wouldn’t incite much feeling in the average commuter.
But for those working to design, develop and manufacture that component, there’s an appreciation that this mode of transport can’t happen without it.
Wabtec is among the premier providers of pantographs for rail systems, having installed around 3,000 of its CX Pantograph systems on high-speed trains around the world. Boasting ‘reliability’ and ‘optimal performance’, the pantograph is considered to be the ‘lightest in its market segment’ and encompass a ‘minimal component design’.
Previously, the pantograph manifold has been manufactured out of up to 17 machined blocks with ‘a lot of assembly actions and pieces such as taps, pneumatic connectors’, bringing with it a risk of leakage as well as substantial weight. But with Selective Laser Melting (SLM) 3D printing technology, several improvements were able to be made to the component.
Among the highlights are a part consolidation from 17 pieces down to one, a 75% weight reduction and a ‘drastic’ reduction to its lifecycle cost thanks to the limited risk of leakage. Wabtec also says its additively manufactured manifold is helping pantographs to perform quicker movements compared to the pantograph standard.
The part consolidation of the manifold is bringing benefits in the immediate term through helping to lightweight the component, and as a 17-piece component, the manifold was much more likely to have parts break and fail, meaning the train could not be used until the component was replaced. Trains have been known to be out of action for weeks should problems arise in the procurement of the replacement component. Though the entire system will have to be replaced if there is an issue with the manifold, Wabtec expects these instances to be less likely now the product has been optimised.
Wabtec has also reported a positive environmental impact, citing France’s 70% decarbonised electricity source and its in-house additive manufacture of the manifold as key factors – previously, the conventionally manufactured manifold had been manufactured in another region.
This has all added up to another additive manufacturing success story for Wabtec, who has previously publicly discussed its usage of additive manufacturing for pneumatic brake panels. The pantograph manifolds are said to have undergone a ‘rigorous testing process’ which involved static tests, overpressure tests, salt spray tests and sealing tests, as well as endurance assessments.
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
Wabtec are exploring how to further optimise the manifold to be more compact, while there is a wider focus on ensuring its customers are supported when it comes to part obsolescence. Through supplier bankruptcy, broken tooling, and the discontinuing of the manufacture of some parts, obsolescence is a growing issue that Wabtec believes can be solved with 3D printing technologies.
As such, the company says it is leveraging additive manufacturing to ‘develop the future generation of railway components’ while also placing a focus on the development of new materials.
