JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #144 - January/February 2022 - 11

''Our industry is all about weight, cost, and efficiency''
advantages we could enjoy.
TrinityRail's engineers put
together a list of potential
projects where composites
could provide unique solutions
and through discussions
with Jeff and Scott, selected
the boxcar floor as a
starting point.
the diamond top plates leaning against the side walls. This permits cleaning of the underlying corrugated secondary floor.
that help them become more
efficient at what they do. In
addition to meeting our initial
goals, we now have a long
list of advantages for the
shipper, car owner, and the
railroads.
Not only has our design saved
material and railcar build labour
costs, but we were also
able to reduce weight by
4500 lbs, increase interior
volume by 150 cu. ft., and
improve thermal efficiency.
Our floor design reduces
cleaning time between railcar
loads, but more importantly,
the railcar can quickly
and easily be converted between
fresh and frozen product
transport.
This reduces logistical burdens
for shippers: they
now only need one railcar
to transport either product
type, while the standard
practice previously required
one style of railcar for fresh
produce and another style
for frozen product.
You offer a solution that
takes on the constraints of
thermal insulation in a mobile
container. What are the
main challenges that this entails?
K.
H.: The railcar is subjected
to not only longitudinal,
transverse, and vertical
accelerations, but also torsion
and exterior-to-interior
temperature differentials.
The previous design of the
primary floor in the refrigerated
boxcar had up to twelve
floor joints. Our composite
floor design has only one
joint to provide long-term
thermal efficiency by reducing
the potential for thermal
leakage at these joints.
Combined with the reduced
contact between the railcar
steel underframe and
the floor, this provides for
an improved, thermally-efficient
railcar.
Keep in mind that these railcars
can be subjected to longitudinal
impacts of up to 1.2
million lbs. of force, vertical
and lateral accelerations of
2 times the force of gravity,
and have thermal differentials
of +130°F exterior with
-10°F interior temperatures.
The floors support over 93
tons of commodity and endure
25,000 lb. axle loads
for 50 years.
Some time ago, TrinityRail
mainly used metal materials.
What triggered the use of
composites and how did this
new direction come about?
K. H.: Jeff McCay from
Composite Applications
Group and Scott Lewit
from Structural Composites
helped TrinityRail envision
how composites could be incorporated
into the railcar
market and highlighted the
How did you approach this
field and choose from the
many solutions that composites
offer?
K. H.: Structural Composites
had an existing product,
the Prisma beam, that enjoyed
success in the marine
and truck transport markets
and could be adapted for our
use. Our railcar requirements
were much more demanding
in many ways, including cost
constraints, so we had plenty
of challenges.
This provided, however, an
excellent project to immerse
TrinityRail into the composites
world and learn about the
many other technologies that
can provide us with unique
materials and processes for future
endeavours.
What are the factors that
could facilitate the penetration
of composite materials
in the US rail transportation
sector?
K. H.: Our industry is all
about weight, cost, and efficiency.
By carefully selecting
projects where composites
can be implemented to
achieve improvements in
these three areas, these materials
can provide unique
solutions.
You currently offer a 72ft
refrigerated boxcar floor.
Are any other developments
using composites in the
works or forthcoming?
N°144 January - February 2022 / jec composites magazine
11

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #144 - January/February 2022

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