Determination of the possibility of increasing the between-repair standards of hopper cars (cement carriers)

In view of gradual changes in the conditions of This article presents the main results of the analytical work maintenance, extensiveness and intensity of the use of freight cars aimed at determining the possibility of increasing the period of opof the operational fleet throughout their service life, it is advisable eration of the hopper cars (cement carriers) to three years in the to periodically review between overhaul norms for certain types of framework of the combined criteria for draw them to scheduled cars to ensure a given level of traffic safety and reduce the costs of repairs. maintenance and repair in changed conditions. These analytical works include: - analysis of the structure of the fleet of cement carriers of JSC “Freight One”; - analysis of the operating time of cement carriers in the inter-repair period; - analysis of the types and consequences of failures of cement carriers; - evaluation and comparison of operating conditions of cement carriers and covered wagons operated for three years during the between-repairs period within the framework of the combined criterion; - evaluation of the trend of the change in the average parameter of the flow of failures as they are used in the inter-repair period; - analysis of data from field survey of a group of cement carriers; - an estimation of a technical condition of bolster beams of group of cement carriers on the parameters subject to influence of processes of deterioration; - an estimate of the expected technical and economic effect of changing the calendar periodicity of repair of cement carriers. As a result of the analytical work carried out for cement carriers owned by JSC “Freight One” with inter-repair standards of 110 (160) thousand km/2 years, it was determined the feasibility of approbation of the possibility of increasing the inter-repair time period to three years with the purpose of collecting experimental data on the results of their operation at an increased interval of between-repair operation. The results of approbation of the increased calendar inter-repair standard of cement carriers of the JSC “Freight One” fleet can serve as a basis for considering the possibility of increasing the frequency of planned repairs of the whole aggregate of cement carriers of the operating fleet of joint use of the Commonwealth member states.