One of the main obstacles in the way toward the development of high-speed railways is the high cost of construction and use of the infrastructure of specialized railway lines as this high cost exerts a negative impact on the payback period. A common feature of all countries in which high-speed railways are used is their high population density that permits paying back considerable investments in infrastructure due to the intense very high-speed and high-speed traffic. In the case of a low population density, insignificant passenger traffic, and/or a long railway-line length (all these factors are typical of the most part of Russia’s territory), the need for reducing necessary investments comes to the forefront, in particular, through justifying the rational route parameters. In the present article, an idea to design an energy-efficient longitudinal profile of a high-speed railway line involving acceleration and deceleration railroad sections provided near stopping points and, also, route elements with train speed limitations, is reported. An approximate analytical method for calculating the energy saving of very high-speed (high-speed) trains due to the proper design of kinetic railroad sections is proposed. Calculations aimed at evaluation of the change of train’s kinetic energy and speed due to the transformation of train’s kinetic into potential energy over the properly designed longitudinal profile of the railroad route are performed. Dependences of energy saving and speed losses versus the length and grade of kinetic railroad sections were obtained.

Marshaling yards are the main car handling facilities. The shunting capacity of such yards depends on the structure of their downway and classification tracks. The falling gradient is one of the most important factors which define the motion of cars and car strings on classification tracks and all over the yard. Unfortunately, standard and estimated values of falling gradients are not always observed at real tracks. The aim of the present study was to examine the degree to which the deviation of falling gradients of classification tracks from their normative values affects the speed of cars moving in the yard. For performing the study, the fifth classification track of the marshalling yard of railway station I was chosen. At the beginning of the track, there is an opposite elevation amounting to -0.2%. The impact of classification-track profile variation on the car speed was investigated for two runners, good and bad. As a result of the study, the end speed of cars departing from the brake position at a speed of 3 meters per second and the speed of the good-runner car departing from the brake position at a speed of 0.7 meters per second were evaluated as functions of covered distance in the yard. Also, the car speed at which this car has to depart from the brake position to cover a certain distance in the yard was determined as a function of the assumed distance. The falling-gradient value was found to have a strong impact on the evaluated car speed. The higher is the ground resistivity to car motion, the more pronounced is the influence due to the difference between the actual and standard/calculated gradient values. A strong subsidence of the track hampers the adequate determination of the stop position of the good runner almost throughout the whole extent of the classification track. An opposite elevation at the beginning of the downtrack strongly affects the speed of departure of the cars from their brake position. For a car to climb an opposite elevation, this car needs to be released at a greater speed. At a low ground resistance, the car will move at increasing speed all over the marshalling yard, and this may lead to car breakage.

In the present publication, we analyze the interaction of railway stations with industrial enterprises under the non-uniform field operation of wagons caused by the transition of the Russian railways to functioning with private car fleets. Characteristics of the goods transportation process by railway transport are analyzed, and schematic diagrams illustrating the impact of main factors on the qualitative interaction of main process participants are provided. The main purpose of the study is the analysis of the interaction of railway stations with the industrial transport objects served. The necessity of modeling transportation processes at freight stations and facilities of non-common use is revealed and substantiated. Based on the performed study, we deliver recommendations for the development of a simulation model for freight-station’s functioning. The model developed using adaptive programming AnyLogic perfectly fits into the structure and technological procedure of railway stations and cargo points’ functioning, thus allowing optimization of the throughput capacity of freight stations. The simulation model for freight-station’s functioning, optimization experiments with the model and throughput-capacity assessments permit the adjustment of the amount of the local work to be performed for the best use of unloading capacities at simultaneous loading/unloading of freight wagons and for the optimum loading of station facilities. The process approach to the interaction of a connecting station with industrial transport objects will enable a reduction of transportation costs arising when railway facilities of non-common use are serviced. The practical importance of the study consists in raising the functional reliability of freight stations in servicing railway transport customers at facilities of noncommon use, in reducing transportation expenses, and in maintaining a high freight-transportation rhythm.

The article presents the most used typical projects of welded metal spans operated in the railway system. The basic damages of these spans are fatigue cracks, which have a negative impact on both the strength and durability of structures. Based on the analysis of design deficiencies and technological features of welded spans fabrication, causes of the most common fractures were identified. The statistics investigation of welded spans failures over the last 20 years allowed us to estimate the dynamics of fatigue cracks and to draw a conclusion about the recent significant increase of cracks number. The method of residual fatigue life estimation of metal spans based on the hypothesis of linear summation of fatigue damages is reported. This method was developed in the 1990s by such institutes as the Siberian Transport University (NIIZhT/SGUPS), Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT), Paton Electric Welding Institute (IES) and All-Russian Railway Research Institute (VNIIZhT). A distinctive feature of the method is that the service life and the operating time to failure are determined among standard trains. This approach allows taking account of cargo traffic volatility in a given route throughout the entire period of maintenance of the facilities. The necessity of improving the calculation methodology of the residual operation time of welded spans is justified, which is of immediate interest due to the introduction of heavy traffic in the railway system of JSC RZhD. The unresolved issue of determining the stress-strain state of spans’ elements in cracking areas is identified with the account of the fact that the facilities are operated in the tough stress state and that residual stresses arise during weld-out. The purpose and objectives of investigation into the residual fatigue life of welded metal spans are formulated.

In the present article, we report on the results of a technical and economic comparison of various technological options in creating subballast protective layers using a three-dimensional geogrid for subgrade level reinforcement in the railway track modernization process on closed track sections. This matter is an urgent one under the present-day conditions of introduction of heavy train traffic on Russia’s railroads as, for ensuring a required bearing capacity of subgrade working zone with increased loads, the creation of protective layers will be critically required on many track sections. Simultaneously, currently we have no universal technology that would make it possible to carry out such works without performance reduction on closed track sections. In carrying out the present study, four currently used technological options differing from each other in terms of the way of laying the geogrid (manual or mechanized), the machines used to unload the sand-gravel mix (dump-cars, specialized mechanisms for transporting old ballast and other materials, or hopper wagons), the machines used to consolidate the sand-gravel mix (vibratory rollers or a complex developed around an electroballasting machine) were compared. To achieve a sufficient reliability of obtained data, the available technological options were estimated and compared with each other, at all other conditions being identical, on a railway-track section 1000 m long in terms of the following parameters: technical parameters - total time required for accomplishment of the works, duration of track closedowns, standard hourly output, and the labor intensity and productivity of the works; economic parameters - necessary labor inputs and the labor cost of roadmen participating in the repair, the cost of operation of rail-mounted track-laying machines and locomotives, and the cost of trains delay due to track closedowns. Also, the paper gives a detailed analysis of gained data and reveals the characteristic features (including the main advantages and shortcomings) of each technological option. Recommendations concerning the choice of an optimal technology to be made under various production conditions are formulated.

Currently, a hinged ventilated facade is often used in building claddings. This system includes heat-insulation of exterior walls and their finish, whose combination makes it possible, both in winter and summer seasons, to maintain a heat-transfer mode creating comfortable living conditions and, during the heating season, to keep the consumption of energy within the running standards for room heating. The widespread use of hinged ventilated facades makes the reliability and durability of such facades an urgent problem. Other critical points involve the modeling of the reliability of hinged ventilated facades taking into account the temperature and humidity conditions and, also, other operational parameters. The simulations in the present study were performed using the FLOWSTAR module of the COSMOS/M software, which was employed to examine the removal of moisture from the air cavity in a hinged ventilated facade under variation of various external factors: width of the air gap in the cavity, separation between the inlet and outlet vent slots (600 and 1200 mm), degree of contraction of the inlet slot, degree of contraction of the outlet slot, and surface roughness of air-channel walls. The present study of the rate of the air flow through air cavity in a hinged ventilated facade as dependent on various external factors has shown that one of the factors acting to reduce the accumulation of moisture in ventilated facades is the air velocity in the cavity, which determines the rate of moisture removal from the air cavity on increasing the separation between the inlet and outlet vent slots. Also, it is found that the rate of the air flow in the air cavity depends on the width of the cavity and on the installation accuracy of a hinged ventilated facade.

The motor transport, powered by the classic internal combustion engines, produces a huge amount of harmful products resulting from incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Another important aspect stimulating the search for alternative fuels is the necessity of increasing the power and capacity of internal combustion engines. Due to this fact, of much interest for scientists nowadays is hydrogen synthesis gas. The advantages of using this fuel include the high environmental quality of exhaust gases, the high-energy performance of the fuel, and its low price in comparison with hydrocarbon fuel. Whatever the fuel used, the necessity of monitoring the operating conditions of engines remains an important part of the technical system. A most advanced and promising method to estimate the operating conditions of an engine is the vibrational control carried out with special equipment. At the outlet of vibration sensors, there is a signal that is to be subjected to processing, transformation, and subsequent analysis. The wavelet transform is a most informative tool permitting analysis of non-stationary signals due to its ability to analyze local features in signals. The wavelet transform is a representation of a signal with a generalized series or a Fourier integral in a system of basic functions, derived from a mother wavelet function; such a representation possesses unique properties due to using time-shift and time-scale change operations. The choice of a mother wavelet is made with due consideration for wavelet properties necessary for signal analysis. For visualization of wavelet-transform results, in the present article three wavelet spectrograms of the one and the same signal, expressed in terms of different mother wavelets, are presented.

Under limited time allotted for servicing railway tracks, high-performance track machines and systems are gaining in importance. Quick and trouble-free operation of these machines defines the intensity and traffic safety on railway lines. For repair and routine maintenance of railroad tracks over the railway system of Russia, continuous-cyclic liner-straightening-tamping machines, the Austrian Duomatic 09-32 CSM machine and its Russian analogue, the PMA-1 machine, are widely used. The reserves for raising the processing capacity of those machines still are not exhausted. For instance, the time required for accomplishing technological operations can be reduced through modernization of the satellite’s hydraulic drive. An analysis of the work cycle of the machines has shown that the main factors worsening the finishing and straightening quality of railway tracks are as follows: an insufficiently high processing capacity offered by the machine, a high height to which the track panels need to be lifted; a large volume of ballasting operations needing to be performed; and the wear of the working equipment. The purpose of the present study was modernization of the satellite’s hydraulic drive of Duomatic 09-32CSM and PMA-1 machines aimed at enhancing the processing capacity and ballast tamping quality offered by these machines in combination with the use of self-diagnostic means intended for preventing sudden failures of satellite drives. The operating cycle of Duomatic 09-32 CSM and PMA-1 surfacers has been analyzed. Reserves for raising the productivity of the machines have been estimated. The hydraulic diagram of the satellite drive of the surfacers has been modernized. Basic parameters of the vibration action due to the ballast hammers on the ballast in the upgraded machines have been identified. The main parameters of the upgraded satellite drive have been estimated.

Today, the most widely used boring technologies are those permitting a change of a well boring trajectory on reaching a certain point in underground space to be implemented both at underground and on-land drilling. We propose a method for changing the well trajectory during the auger drilling of rock mass in mining and in underground construction of utility systems and infrastructure objects. The deflecting force is generated because, as the boring head suffers an axial displacement, an excessive drilled space appears on one side of the head while a non-drilled region appears on the opposite side. As the boring head executes a progressive motion, its body deforms the non-drilled region. The resistance to deformation produces a deflecting force whose efficiency increases due to the occurrence of the drilled space on the other side of the head. In the proposed method, the main advantageous feature is the possibility to control the well trajectory immediately during the auger drilling process, without preliminary drilling of a pilot hole. A boring head for directional well boring is described in which the proposed control method is implemented. An important feature of the proposed design is that the deflecting force does not act over the straight portions of the bored well; instead, this force is generated when a need in changing the well direction appears. As a result, reaching a more straight well trajectory and its more precise coming to a certain region in underground space becomes possible. Results of an experimental study of the boring process of curvilinear wells by the proposed method using a full-size boring head with a deflecting appliance are reported. As a result of laboratory tests performed on a special testing bench with a soil channel, values of structural parameters of the boring head providing for a curvilinear well trajectory bored in desired direction and ensuring an admissible curvature radius making it possible for the well to come to a certain point of underground space were determined.