COMPANY NEWS
Stainless steel has found its way to the transport sector, benefiting rail vehicles with superior corrosion resistance and very high strength, says Finland’s Outokumpu.
S
tainless steel offers a wealth of oppor- tunities in diverse applications of rail vehicles. The reasons are many.
High-strength grades of stainless steel promise carbodies and other components with durability and long service lives with little or no need for maintenance. As such, they significantly boost the competitive- ness of railway technology providers and equipment owners.
Thanks to the many surface finish options available, stainless gives elegance to vehi- cle interiors, in addition to its durability and light weight.
Today, stainless steel is used in a variety of rail vehicle components from interiors to toilets to brake-pipes to whole carbodies.
Whatever the rail transport mode in ques- tion, whether passenger, freight, metro or light rail transit system, our comprehen- sive range of stainless steels can offer key benefits. Outokumpu is one of the largest producers of stainless steel and widely rec- ognised as a world-leader in technical sup- port, research and development.
Outokumpu’s stainless steel can be found in use by many of the leading train manufac- turers. They include Alstom, AnsaldoBreda, Bombardier, CAF and Vossloh.
The cost-efficient and light-weight option
Easily shunned by specifiers due to its ini- tially higher cost compared to alternative materials, stainless steel often turns out to be the most cost-efficient option when life cycle cost is taken into account and thanks to the potential for significant thickness re- ductions. Also, there is no need for expen- sive coating processes.
Aluminium is conventionally considered the ‘light-weight’ material. In fact, alumin- ium should more correctly be called a ‘low- density’ material. Stainless often enables a lighter weight solution than aluminium when utilizing modern high-strength stain- less steel grades.
For example, utilizing modern temper- rolled grades such as Outokumpu’s EN 1.4318 (ASTM 301LN), the strength can be up to Rp0,2 1300 N/mm2.
18 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 11 Optimal carbody components
Alstom relies on Outokumpu’s EN 1.4318 to produce state-of-the-art metro carbod- ies. The grade has been developed to an- swer specific needs of rail passenger trans- port. It provides the unique combination of good formability and very high strength, as well as excellent energy absorption in rela- tion to strain rate.
Outokumpu 1.4318 is ideal for a wide range of structural components. One such com- ponent is seat frames, rendered lighter weight and tougher than aluminium or carbon steel frames. The benefits include increased safety in crash situations and re- duced overall railcar body weight – stain- less offers a greener solution.
Railcar interiors optimised
Commercial kitchens have long made ex- tensive use of stainless steel for reasons of high hygiene and ease of maintenance. These same benefits can be utilized by rail- car designers to produce efficient kitchens and galleys.
Toilet bowls and other lavatory compo- nents can benefit from the unbeatable qualities of stainless, and specialty stain- less steels including Cr-Ni-Mo and duplex grades offer even higher corrosion resist- ance for these applications.
Outokumpu is the leading supplier of du- plex grades, and the company’s duplex
LDX2101® offers excellent corrosion re- sistance with twice the strength of standard stainless grades – and all that at a similar cost to standard stainless solutions.
Invisible to the passenger eye, toilet tanks – properly called Chemical Effluent Tanks (CET) – are ideal examples of the quali- ties of Outokumpu LDX2101®, producing competitive products with high strength, low weight and high corrosion resistance when compared to conventional stainless steel grades.
Stainless in freight wagon applica- tions
The performance demands on freight ve- hicles today are greater than ever: reduced maintenance, higher wear resistance and reduced tare weight are all key factors in their evolution.
Coal used to fire power stations in the UK is transported from ports in steel wagons conventionally built from galvanized steel. Outokumpu’s low cost 12% chromium fer- ritic stainless steel EN 1.4003 is increasing- ly used for coal wagons where it competes directly with carbon steels but with greater corrosion resistance. The benefits are clear: longer vehicle life, no coatings required, higher load carrying ability, reduced main- tenance and overall better performance when transporting heavy commodities.
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.outokumpu.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228