Plenary Lecture
On the Lifetime of Railway Vehicle Bearing Structures as a Component of Reliability
Professor Ion Copaci
Engineering Faculty
“Aurel Vlaicu” University
Arad, Romania
E-mail: ioncopaci@gmail.com
Abstract: The conference contains the following aspects:
- presentations of the notions of random loads on railway vehicle bearing structures, experimentally established load collective used in the calculation of lifetime, Wohler fatigue diagrams and consecrated degradation theories (Miner, Corten-Dolan, Lehmann, Cioclov etc.)
- during railway vehicle travel there are shock loads that undoubtedly cause a degree of deterioration due to repeated shock loads
- it is important for specialists who study lifetime of structures to analyze the possibility to join the effects of degradation due to the causes: random loads and repeated shock, without offering separate verdicts
The lifetime of a railway vehicle depends on both types of loads and an experimental solution is necessary in order to offer a more adequate degree of security.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Ion Copaci graduated from the “Traian Vuia” Polytechnic Institute in Timişoara, Romania, Faculty of Mechanics. He received his Ph.D. in the field of Mechanical Engineering with the thesis „Contributions on the Behaviour of the Bearing Structures of Railway Cars During the Longitudinal Shock Caused by Collision”, presented at the ”Politehnica” University Timişoara, Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Rolling Stock.
Technical Experience: research in the area of vibrations and shocks on railway vehicles (rolling quality, repeated shock), bearing structure resistance (lifetime, fatigue), elastic elements that equip the suspension or shock insulators of railway vehicles, torsional rigidity and travel safety, quantitative determinations (MATHAR) of the internal stresses on the bearing structures of bogies and Francis turbine rotors. Contributions and experimental research for the promotion on the railway of over 150 freight and passenger railway car prototypes, in almost 30 countries on 5 continents, as a result of over 30 years of research.
Nowadays he is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of “Aurel Vlaicu” University, Arad, Romania.
Field of specialization: Railway Transport Vehicles, with disciplines taught: “Dynamics of Railway Vehicles” and “Experimental Research on Railway Vehicles”. He has published over 120 research papers, 8 books and 4 inventor’s licenses.
He is a member of 6 societies and professional associations and he is a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Science.