Furthermore, the Unimat is featuring 4S-tamping and parallel tamping.

Transcription

1 Mypresentationismoreofa briefsummaryofwhatyouhaveseenout in theworkshop already.the primaryideaofthisnewmachineconceptisthecombinationofa high performingplainlinetamperwiththefeaturesofa modern S&C tamper. Onecrewwith onemachinecandelivercontinuousactionplainlinetampingandcompletes&c treatment. In addition, itenablesustocarry out continuousactiontampingin an S&C layoutaswell. Althoughthisisnot possibleovertheentirelayoutitutilisesworkingon higher performance levels in large areas of even a conventional turnout, saving energy at thesame time.thereisnoneedofacceleratingandbrakinga massof120t all thetime. Toloungea prototype on-track machine-a newproduct-on Network Rail s infrastructure is a complex project, requiring a lot of effort and input from all parties concerned. It is therefore, a pleasure for me thanking Network Rail and SB-Rail for being on boardon thisproject. Togetherwehadtotakesomehurdlesforachievingtheset goals, but theresultmeansa newstandardin tracktamping. 1

2 The concept has been realised already on about 60 machines before for continental Europe andnorth America, but thechallengewas tocomeupwitha RailwayGroup Standard compliant design built to W6a-gauge. Not as simple as it may sound. Itmeansalso a newdefinitionofan universal tampingmachine. The original understanding of an universal tamping machine was mainly based on an S&C tamper which can tamp plain line tracks as well. So, for maintaining station layouts, yards and junctionsthereisnoneedforhavingtwomachinesavailable. OneforS&Cs, oneforplain line. Here, in theuk thedefinitionofan universal tamperdescribesa machinewhichdoes mainly plain tamping mid-weeks and S&C tamping over the weekends. This correlates perfectly with a demand raising in other countries some years ago with the introduction of highspeed& high capacity lines. The operators were looking for a combined machine able for carrying out high performance plain line tamping and S&C tamping when reachingjunctionson theway. This requirementhasbeentransformednowintoa machinewhichcanworkon all S&C layoutsfoundon Network Railinfrastructure. Therefore, the machine is equipped with single head tamping banks allowing to cover almost the entire rail network. An UK version featuring double-head tamping banks is already on the drawing board. Such a machine would then be predominantly operated on main lines. 2

3 As already mentioned, the machine can tamp large areas of a turnout in continuous action mode. This increases tamping performance by about 20% compared to a cyclic tamping machine. During testing in Austria on Austrian Federal Railways infrastructure wegot15 minutesfortampingthebranchlinesoftheturnout. Fortampingthemainline oftheturnouttheadjacentlinewas not closedatall. Byapplyingthismethodenergy consumptionisdecreasedatthesame time. TogetherwiththefactthattheUnimatis filled with biodegredible oils only, the CO2 balance of this machine is setting new standards for on-track plant. Furthermore, the Unimat is featuring 4S-tamping and parallel tamping. A totally new system detecting sleepers eases tamping operation, aspecially when sleepers are hidden below a layer of new ballast. This detection device is positioned behind bogie no. 1. Based on a pre-selected sleeper spacing two sensors detect the rail fastenings of a sleeper automatically. In case tamping is not possible because of narrow spacings or the system detects skewed sleepers the automatic tamping cycle will be interrupted. In addtion, the operator in the cabin receives an audible warning. 3

4 4S-tamping means to correct the turnout already during the first tamping run through its main line. The tamping banks in split design are horizontally displaceable and can be located exactly over the tamping area. The tiltable tamping tools allow further positioning and tamping of approximately 99% of a turnout. So, after the first run the turnout is already corrected in its vertical position and alignment. The second run through the branch line serves for tamping the remaining sleepers without changing their position. The tamping banks are supported by a rotating device allowingthemtobeadaptedtoskewedsleepers. 4

5 Youmaysaythedesign ofthetampingbankswithfixedandtiltingtampingtynesisa compromise in utilising maximum flexibility for S&C tamping. Ouraimistoprovideyouwithtampingbanksofferingtheabilityoftampingtheentire turnout. Atthesame time wehavetobearin mindthatall mid-weektampingison plain line tracks only at high performance levels. We are expecting an increase in tamping performance of at least 30% compared to conventional cyclic tampers. Therefore, the providedtampingbanksofferflexibilityandwearresistanceatthesame time. Upon request, themachinecanbealso equippedwithtampingbanksasknownfromthe Unimat 08-4x4/4S-series. Again, a machine concept offering double-head tamping banksfortampingtwosleepersata time isreadytogoaswell. 5

6 The lifting& liningunitwithitsrollerclampsandliftinghooksallowliftingofthes&c at any loaction. In conjunction with the synchronous 3-rail lifting device it enables lifting of the turnout on three points without overstressing rail fastenings. Also the concept of operating the machine is new here. On conventional cyclic machines thetwooperatorsin the tamperoperatorcabin deal withcontrollingthelifting& liningunitsaswellasthetampingbanks. On theunimat09-4x4/4s wehavegottwo cabinsaroundtheseworkingunits. The onein front ofthelifting& liningunitisfor takingcareofthelifting& liningprocessandthe3-rail liftingdevice. The onebehindthe tamping banks offering excellent view onto the tamping area is for controlling the tamping banks. The clear and distinct responsibilities shared between the operators during the working process allow further improvement of tamping efficiency. Still only twooperatorsareneededforhandlingthetampingbanksandthelifting& liningunits. 6

7 Anothermajordesign featureon theunimat09-4x4/4s isthenewcontrolsystem. The PLC basedpic-controlsystemisalreadywidleyin operationin theuk on machinessuch asthehigh outputballastcleaner RM 900-RT systemiv, themfs-units ofsystemiv and theem-sat machines. The consolidationmachine09-cm followingtheballastcleaner on systemiv isin factthefirst 09-Dynamic machinefeaturingthepic-system. Thomas Blechinger head of our machine control systems department will lead you through the PIC-system in all detailslater. 7

8 ALC guidance computer, DRP track geometry recorder and curve laser CAL are meanwhile standard features for Plasser tampers in the UK. Aspecially for the introduction and maintenance of abosulte track geometry. A demand for getting rid of gauging issues. 8

9 At the begining of designing the new Unimat 094x4/4S we intended to make provision forretrofittingdts unitsata laterstageonly. NowI am pleasedtosaythatsb-railinsitedoffittingthedts unitsduringbuildofthe machine already. The Unimat 09-Dynamic tamper offers now dynamic track stabilisation while tamping plainlinetrackands&c. Atthemomentwehavegot a numberof Dynamic machines in operation on Network Rail infrastructure as part of the high output track renewals programme whereas we don t DTS as part of conventional renewals and track maintenance. From the track engineering perspective there is no difference. As soon as wetampa trackweshoulddts itaswell. Thatcompletestheprocessofcorrectingtrack position and creating an uniform consolidation of the ballast bed. A must forprovidingtop tracktampingqualityandincreasedmaintenancecycles. Tests herein theuk haveprovenalreadythata trackbuildathigh initialquality, properly tamped and DTS-ed achieves maintenance cycles beyond 5 years. NowI am pleasedtohandovertothomas. 9