smaRtAIL · Smart protective coatings on classic materials for a new generation of ecologically sustainable ‛green’ railway vehicles

The main objective of the project is to analyse the possibilities and adjusting the process of implementation in the EU of thesmart coating for railway wheels (together with the verification of nanomaterials) together with an effective smart coatingsdeposition technology, which apart from reducing wear at the wheel/rail interface, will allow for a significant reduction ofenergy consumption (up to 8%) and noise (up to 15dB), at the same time maintaining operational characteristics that aremuch more effective than those currently used in the design of railway wheels, for heavy rail, metros, light rail, and industrialrailways. The primary benefit for customers will be the increased life-time of railway wheels of up to 40%.The innovativeness of the proposal solution, confirmed by a European patent that has already been granted and enforced in23 countries, comes down to the automated application of a material coating of optimised qualities (including self-lubricationand reduction of noise) by a high powered laser onto the flange of a railway wheel.The implementation of an innovative and validated technology consisting of the application of protective layers called smart coating, onto railway wheels working surface will provide a new generation of rail vehicles to be built in Europe, which will be cheaper, environmental friendly, more energy efficient and safer. That will be additional catalyst for railway transport on its path to increasing market share, what is one of the goals of the European Commission in terms of creating a competitive, environmentally friendly and low-carbon economy.Feasibility study will enable us to verify the technological feasibility and economic viability of launching smaRtAIL on EU’s market, which will contribute to solving the aforementioned problems. PHASE I is only the beginning and we believe it will lead to PHASE II. This will enable us to identify resources needed for commercial implementation of our technology.