MABY5040 Advanced Railway Engineering Course description

Railway transportation is one of the key and fastest modes of mobility for passengers and cargo in large quantities. This course covers both basic topics such as the key components of railway systems and their characteristics, track geometric design and speed limitation, and advanced topics including coupled train-track system, track dynamics and vibration, and geotechnical aspects related to railway tracks. In this course, different types of railway tracks, the interaction between the track and the rolling stock, the static and dynamic modelling and analysis, urban railway systems, high-speed rails, as well as the safety and maintenance of railway systems will be discussed.

Lena Magnusson Turner

Upon completing the course, the student should have the following outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

Students have in-depth knowledge of:

• various railway systems and vehicle and track structures
• track geometry, superelevation and speed limitation
• the interaction between the vehicle and the track
• dynamic behavior of railway systems
• high-speed rails, urban rails and design considerations

Skills

Students can:

• select and design an appropriate track system
• calculate the vehicle loads and speed limitation
• perform computational modelling and analysis of coupled vehicle-track system
• quantify the effect of railway imperfection and wear and tear

General competence

Students:

• can understand the principles for geometric and structural design of railway tracks
• are capable of conducting simple and complex train-track simulations with the aid of computational tools and programming languages
• are familiar with railway maintenance requirements and techniques

Lectures, exercises and projects

If lectures are delivered online, they may be recorded, and the recordings will be made available to students on Canvas.

The following work requirements are mandatory and must be approved prior to the exam:

2 written group exercises. Each group should consist of up to 3 students.

No formal requirements over and above the admission requirements.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student will

• have insight in strategies to build robust pipe systems with reduced groundwork
• have knowledge in various sensor types used in urban water
• know about current state-of-the-art of sensor technology and their usage in model-based decision support, strategies for establishing robust pipe systems requiring reduced ground work and digging
• have knowledge about trenches, developing of NO-dig methods and decision models for when to use the different methods
• have insight in holistic methods for ground works also in relation to non-water infrastructure (district heating, energy supplying and broadband cables).

Skills:

the student can

• design and evaluate technology and systems in water resource engineering
• design and implement hydraulic models
• do sensor data analysis and reconciliation
• carry out critical analysis of uncertain or incomplete information in design and optimization of urban pipe network systems
• use a model to assess sensor data and balance conflicting data.

General competence:

the student is able to

• understand the resource efficiency of urban pipe systems
• use advanced models for stormwater
• to evaluate different urban water systems
• put knowledge into practice and solving complex problems
• perform critical assessment of sensor data.

2 project reports (700-1000 words in addition to supporting information/appendices).

1 field excursion. Hand in of a report from the field excursion (approx. 300 words)

A written exercise for missing attendance at the field excursion.

60 % physical presence is mandatory in lectures and training. A written exercise for missing attendance.

All aids allowed

Graded scale A-F