CARRIAGE AND RAILCAR HEATING. REPORT ON THE TESTS CARRIED OUT ON SOME STEAM HEATING HALF-COUPLINGS IN 1956-1957-1958 AND 1959 BY VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF THE DB AND OF THE SNCF

The investigation which is covered by this report arose from the need to improve the performance in service of the rubber washers used in the heads of steam heating couplings as failures of these components were responsible for about half the total number of "incidents" concerned with steam heating. While the performance of such washers could be improved to some extent by an improvement in the quality of the washers themselves any such improvement was found to be of a severely limited amount if the design of the coupling to which it was fitted was such as to give rise to criticism both as regards the mounting of the washer in the coupling head and as regards the flexibility, or stiffness, of the joints. No proper comparison could be made of the performance of the various washers tested for endurance on a testing machine, simulating the movements of the couplings in service, unless the couplings, in which the washers were mounted, were themselves similar in performance. This led to tests on a variety of couplings, from several Railway Administrations, some of which were found not to comply fully with the requirements of UIC Leaflet No. 551. These tests showed that the Friedmann type of coupling, used by the DB and other railways, met the requirements better than the other couplings tested and enabled a very much longer life to be obtained from the washers. As a result of the tests two proposals are put forward: (a) the draft of an amended text for UIC Leaflet No. 551; (b) the draft of a Technical Specification for the supply of rubber washers and joint rings for steam heating couplings. These two proposed drafts form appendices to the report.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1960-11

Media Info

• Features: Appendices;
• Pagination: 26 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air conditioning systems; Heating (Structures); Heating, cooling and ventilation equipment; Passenger cars; Steam
• Identifier Terms: Deutsche Bahn; Deutsche Bundesbahn; Societe nationale des chemins de fer francais
• Uncontrolled Terms: Steam heating
• Old TRIS Terms: Question b30
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00053051
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: B30/RP 6/E Intrm Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM