FRP Composite Sleepers for Application on Rail Tracks

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FRP Composite Sleepers for Application on Rail
Tracks Girder Bridges

• Developed by
• Permali Wallace Pvt. Ltd.Bhopal, India

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Structure of this Presentation

• Background
• Organisation Involved
• About Us
• Our Products for Railway Applications
• The Advisory Monitoring Commitee
• The Project Timeline
• The Final Design
• Advantages of FRP Sleepers
• Comparison with Sleepers of Other Materials
• Photographs
• Current Status Conclusion
• Acknowledgements

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Background

• Indian Railways
• Fourth Largest Rail Network in the World
• Largest Network on basis of No. of Passengers
  carried per Km.
• Route Length 63000 Kms.
• Track Length - Over 100,000 Kms
• Almost 15,900 Girder Bridges using over 900,000
  Wooden Sleepers

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Background

• Need for a New Material was felt because -
• Though Wooden Sleepers had performed well all
  these years, but there is a shortage of wood due
  to ban on felling of trees in India for
  Environmental Conservation
• Steel Channel (Metal) Sleepers were developed but
  had following disadvantages -
• Poor performance in Highly Vibrating Environment
  of Rail-Wheel Interaction
• Poor performance and Need for additional
  insulation in Track-circuited Areas

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Organisations Involved

• RD Establishment (Engineers), - RDE
• A laboratory under the Defence Research
  Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of
  Defence involved in Structural Engineering and
  its scope of work includes developing new
  designs, materials etc for Bridges.
•  The Research, Design Standards Organisation
  (RDSO)
• An autonomous body under the Ministry of
  Railways, Govt. of India
• A single body responsible for maintaining and
  drafting standards for all the materials being
  used by Indian Railways.
• Also involved in Research Design for new
  materials, designs etc for the Railways. It has
  various directorate, each of which individually
  handles functions.
• The Bridge Structure Directorate of the RDSO
  was involved during the Project.

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Organisations Involved

• The Advanced Composite Mission, TIFAC (ACM)
• An autonomous organisation under the Dept. of
  Science Technology, Government of India. The
  ACM under the aegis of TIFAC is working on
  developing marketable and sustainable new
  products.
• The project was presented to ACM by RDE and was
  approved
• Financial Assistance in the form of a soft loan
  was provided for the project and an Advisory
  Monitoring Committee (AMC) was formed.

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Permali Wallace Pvt. Ltd.

• A pioneer in the Indian Composites Industry,
  established in 1961 at Bhopal in technical and
  financial collaboration with Permali Ltd.,
  Gloucester, UK and Chase Lowe Ltd., Manchester,
  UK .
• Manufacturer of Polymeric Composites like Wood
  based laminates, Fibreglass laminates, Fibreglass
  Tubes and Rings, Cotton Fabric Composites,
  Composites Composite, other composites using high
  tech fibres like Polyester, Kevlar etc. and
  Prepregs based on Nomex Paper, Glass Fibre Cloth,
  Ceramic Paper, Cast Epoxy Insulators and
  Bushings, Sheet and Dough moulding compounds and
  mouldings thereof.
• We manufacture composite materials for
  application in a wide range of industries.
• Chosen as the Industry Partner for this project

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About Us Product Applications

• Electrical Equipment Industry
• Railways
• Defence
• Automobiles
• Foundries
• Chemical

• Petroleum
• Construction
• Atomic Energy
• Space Research
• Textile Machinery
• Telecom

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PWL in Railway Applications

• Permali Fish plate
• Polyimide Slot Wedges
• Permali Cable Cleats
• Permaglass Cable Cleats
• Insulation material for Traction Equipments
• Third Rail Conductor Bracket Assembly
• Coach Parts Slats, Compreg, FRP parts
• Breaker casings
• FRP Gear Case
• FRP Sleeper
• Permaglass Fishplate
• . and many others

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Advisory Monitoring Committee

• The Project was presented to the ACM of TIFAC and
  was approved and then promoted by the ACM to
  the Railway.
• Financial Assistance in the form of a soft loan
  was provided for the project
• An Advisory Monitoring Committee (AMC) was
  formed.
• This powerful AMC comprised of
• A Member of Railway Board
• Senior officials from Bridge Structures
  Directorate of RDSO, Indian Railways
• Other senior officials nominated by Indian
  Railways
• Senior Officials from RDE
• Officers from TIFAC
• Personnel from PWL.
• The responsibility of the AMC was to monitor the
  progress of the project and regular meetings were
  held to expedite the project.

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The Project Timeline

• 1997 Project undertaken by RDSO and RD
  Engineers, Pune with assistance from Advanced
  Composite Mission, TIFAC (Dept. of Science
  Technology) to develop an alternative to Wood
  Steel Sleepers
• 1997 Enquiry received by Permali Wallace Ltd.
  From RD Engineers. After a series of
  Techno-commercial discussions, PWL was then
  chosen as the Industry Partner. The design was
  finalized after series of sessions by all the
  above.
• May, 1998 Formal PO for manufacturing 12
  Sleepers received.
• Aug.,1998 1st Prototype of the sleeper
  submitted to RD Engineers . After initial
  inspection remaining 11 were produced and
  submitted

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The Project

• 1998-99 These sleepers were given to RDSO for
  Extensive Static Dynamic Testing by RD Engg..
  These sleepers withstood testing upto 2 million
  cycles and were then withdrawn. They were found
  to be in perfect state.
• 2000 RDSO placed an order for 44 nos. sleepers
  vide their order no. SP3/0062/BS/0048
• 2001 These were supplied to RDSO for extensive
  field trial between Feb. May, 2001
• First 22 fitted by Northern Railway at Najimabad
  on 15/04/01
• Next 22 fitted by South Eastern Railway at
  Chengail on 8/6/01
• 2002 The sleepers have given excellent
  performance to date acknowledged by RDSO vide
  their letter to us and also recommended the
  product for approval vide their letter no.
  CBS/DSD dt. 31/5/02

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Final Design
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The Sleeper
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Advantages of FRP Sleepers

• Light Weight
• Only 54 Kgs. fittings (Net wt 66 Kgs.)
• Easy to Handle, Replace, Fit
• Life of min. 40 to 50 years
• Low Maintenance
• Corrosion free
• Unaffected by adverse environmental conditions
  UV Rays
• Insulating Material extremely suitable for
  track circuited areas
• Lowest Cost on basis of Life Cycle Cost

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Comparison
S.No. Property Wooden Steel FRP
1 Durability (Life) 8-10 15-20 40-50
2 Weight (in Kg) 100-171 110 54
3 Replacabilty Easy Difficult Easy
4 Maintenance High High Nil
5 Suitability -Track Cktd. Areas Suitable Not Suitable Suitable
6 Handling Not so easy Difficult Easy
7 Vibration Dampening High Low High
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Comparison
S.No Property Wooden Steel FRP
8 Noise Generation Low Very High Low
9 Water Absorption High Low Low
10 Wetting Drying Effect High Causes Corrosion No Effect
11 Rail Fixtures Few Many Few
12 Dimensional Integrity Poor Good Very Good
13 Cost/Sleeper Low High High
14 Life Cycle Cost Low High Lowest
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Sleeper Site Photographs
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Side Section View
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First Lot fitted at the Najimabad Bridge by
Northern Railway
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2nd Lot fitted on Chengail Bridge by
South-Eastern Railway
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Site Inspection at Chengail Bridge
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Chengail Site Recent Picture
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Chengail site Recent Pictures
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Signboard at the Chengail Bridge
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Letter of Appreciation from RDSO
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Our nomination during JEC Awards 2004
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Conclusions

• Lowest life cycle cost as compared to other
  sleepers
• Number of other inherent advantages as discussed
• Full scale commercial use by Indian Railways is
  on the anvil
• Permali Wallace Pvt. Ltd. Is fully equipped to
  meet the Global requirement with necessary
  infrastructure for mass production in its place
• The product was nominated in the Mass Transit
  Category during the JEC 2004 Awards
• FRP Sleeper A Solution for future

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Our Other Products for Tracks

• Permaglass Fishplates
• These electrically insulating Fish Plates are
  used in the marshalling yards of Railways where
  automatic track signaling is in use. The Fish
  Plates are mechanically strong and join the two
  rails and simultaneously insulate them
  electrically

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Third Rail Current Collector Beam

• An undercarriage Fitment, when assembled with
  other components is used on Metro rail. The
  assembly collects current, from the third rail
  laid next to the main rails, to be transmitted to
  the traction motors. This is a critical component
  since human safety is involved in the application.

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Acknowledgment

• Mr. Soumitra Biswas the his entire team of
  Advanced Composite Mission, TIFAC, India
• Mr. A. K. Harit, then Executive Director (BS),
  RDSO, Indian Railways
• Mr. R.P. Vyas, then Director (BS), RDSO, Indian
  Railways and his entire team
• Mr. Y.P. Pathak, Head, RD Engineers, Pune, India
• Mr. D.L. Sapra and their entire team from RD
  Engineers, Pune, India
• Mr. P.S. Subramanian
• All the esteemed members of the Advisory
  Monitoring Committee.
• The Management, Officers workers at Permali
  Wallace Ltd. who worked on the project at
  various stages.

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Our Contact Details

• PWL Info
• Permali Wallace Pvt. Ltd.
• Hoshangabad Road
• Bhopal 462011
• India
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E-mail info_at_permaliwallace.com
• mihir.merchant_at_permaliwallace.com
• permali_at_vsnl.com
• Website www.permaliwallace.com

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Thank You