Aluminium profiles for rail vehicles

The density of aluminum is about 1/3 of that of steel, which can reduce the weight of vehicle parts to 50% (under the condition that the strength of the replaced steel is equivalent to that of aluminum alloy). Good strength performance can be obtained by adding an appropriate amount of alloy elements and combining appropriate treatment conditions. Moreover, the surface of aluminum is easy to oxidize to form a dense and stable oxide film, so it has good corrosion resistance. Aluminum also has the advantages of good processability, good shock absorption and low life cycle cost. It is one of the important ways to realize energy-saving and high-speed operation of rail vehicles with light weight. It is an ideal alternative material for steel car bodies.

Aluminum profiles for rail vehicles have been widely used in high-speed multiple units. The speed of most high-speed railway passenger cars is between 200-300 kilometers per hour, and a few trains are faster, which puts forward high requirements for the manufacturing process and material selection of the car body. In order to adapt to the high-speed operation of trains, Bombardier, Alstom, Siemens, Kawasaki and other enterprises pay special attention to the lightweight of passenger car structure, and widely use large section aluminum alloy profiles to manufacture passenger car bodies to reduce self weight.

Japan, France and Germany have taken the lead in the development of high-speed railway. Shinkansen high-speed EMUs in Japan, ice series high-speed EMUs in Germany and TGV double-layer high-speed EMUs in France all adopt aluminum alloy bodywork. They are the representatives of high-speed trains with the most advanced technology and the safest operation at present.

When aluminum is used in the design of rail vehicle body, it must meet the requirements of strength, stiffness and fatigue strength, and also consider the feasibility of welding and processing in the manufacturing process. At present, 6000 and 7000 series aluminum alloy materials are generally used in the design of aluminum profiles for rail vehicles. 6000 series aluminum alloy profiles are used for aluminum alloy car body floor, floor side beam, side wall, roof and end wall, while 7000 series 7005 aluminum alloy profiles are used for traction beam, sleeper beam and buffer beam.

In order to reduce the welding quantity of the car body, improve the manufacturing efficiency and meet the needs of high-speed operation of the vehicle, there are strict requirements on the mechanical properties and cross-sectional area of the large section hollow aluminum alloy profile for the car body (refer to the German DIN standard), and its mechanical properties are 30% higher than that of the ordinary aluminum alloy profile; And it can be extruded into drum shaped, trapezoidal, rectangular and other complex large sections (e.g. 970mm × 300mm) hollow thin-wall ultra wide (e.g. > 500mm) and long (30m-60m) aluminum profiles.