Under the “Research and Development of Innovative Structural Materials” project promoted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the Innovative Structural Materials Association (ISMA) created a full scale partial structure with a height of 2.9 m, width of 3.4 m, and length 5.0 m. This structure was used to simulate the parts of the cabin where loads are repeatedly applied when a Shinkansen train enters and exits a tunnel. A total of 147,000 airtight fatigue test was performed; these are equivalent to 20 years of tunnel entry and exit, i.e., the design life of the vehicle. The results confirmed that the partial structure using a flame-retardant magnesium alloy could withstand long-term operation.
Fig. Appearance of a partial structure (5 meters in length) of a high-speed railways simulating the general part of a passenger compartment
Source text: Science Japan, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), September 22, 2021
Image credit: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Read in more details
