Angel Trains, one of Britain’s leading train leasing companies, has collaborated with engineering consultancy, ESG Rail and Stratasys, to address the issue of obsolete parts in the rail industry with 3D printing.
This UK-first initiative has resulted in the creation of four fully approved 3D printed interior components including an arm rest, grab handle and seat back table, all of which will now be trialled on in-service passenger trains next year.
All parts have been designed for additive manufacturing using Stratasys’ Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) technology. The components have been structurally assessed by ESG Rail for manufacturing using Stratasys 3D printed tooling and rail-certified thermoplastic materials. New high performance materials, including Stratasys Antero 800 NA, a PEKK-based thermoplastic, have also been tested to demonstrate compliance with the Rail Standard EN45545-2.
Mark Hicks, Technical Director at Angel Trains, said: “This exciting industry-first collaboration has the potential to transform manufacturing within the rail industry. We are proud to be driving this innovation with ESG Rail and Stratasys and hope that this solution will help to free the industry from technological constraints, and allow our trains to continue to meet passengers’ needs now and in the future.”
Martin Stevens, Head of Mechanical Engineering, ESG Rail, commented: “We have learned so much during this project and have addressed many engineering challenges. We believe that this emerging method of manufacturing will reduce costs, production times and issues faced by component obsolescence.”
Yann Rageul, Manager, Strategic Account Team EMEA, Stratasys added: “With the highest level of repeatability in the industry and advanced, rail-certified, materials, we believe our FDM additive manufacturing solutions offer huge potential to replace traditional manufacturing for a diverse range of applications within the rail industry. This collaboration will help us to explore how we can support rail companies, such as Angel Trains, to produce parts on-demand – both cost-effectively and efficiently – eradicating the need for obsolete inventory and improving their ability to service customers.”
The collaboration aims to reduce rolling stock costs and enable vehicles to remain in passenger service for longer. It also offers the potential to lower costs for train operating companies with the ability to produce parts on demand rather than mass manufacturing vast quantities. ESG's parent company, the DB (Deutsche Bahn) Group has already been testing 3D printing for spare parts and other products since 2015 using systems from German 3D printing company, BigRep alongside other polymer and metal technologies. By the end of this year, the company believes it will have printed around 15,000 parts.
