Introduction. CONSIDERATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS FOR PASSENGER RAIL CARBODY CONSTRUCTION

Material choice is a very complex issue which must take into account planned service, structural and safety requirements, manufacturability, serviceability and numerous additional factors which are depicted in Figure 1. Designers understand these competing constraints and choose appropriate materials based on necessary trade-offs required in order to achieve their objectives.

Figure 1. Passenger railcar design considerations [[1]].

Today stainless steel is used in a wide range of rail applications. Regional, commuter, metro, underground and light-rail train services all rely on stainless steel solutions. Each of these applications has particular operating characteristics. Design criteria and material selection are influenced by the specific operating conditions to which the rolling stock will be exposed during its service life. Many of these criteria are met by stainless steel. Stainless steel is a viable solution whenever corrosion resistance, durability, crash resistance, fire safety, ease of cleaning, maintenance and visual attractiveness are key requirements [1].

Experience with aluminum over the past several decades has resulted in numerous applications for the metal not only in freight cars, but also in light rail and inner city commuter trains, metros, and underground trains as well as in express, intercity passenger trains.

Building rail cars from aluminum is a tested and proven way to increase railroad efficiency. An excellent example is the third generation of the TGV Duplex, a French high speed train, converted from steel to aluminum to achieve a 20 percent weight savings, while also converting to two decks and keeping the axle load below 17 tons. The Japanese high-speed "Bullet" train and the Washington, DC Metro trains are also fabricated with aluminum [[2]]. There is also considerable use of aluminum in the advanced high speed trains such as the Acela, the Transrapid, Shinkansen, and Pendolino type trains, and magnetic levitation (Maglev) trains [[3]].