COLD WEATHER TRANSIT TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. VOLUME 15--MODELING AND ANALYSES OF THERMAL CONDUCTION IN SEVERAL ICE MELTING PROBLEMS

This report is one of a series of reports associated with the Cold Weather Transit Technology (CWTT) program of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration. The CWTT program is a project to improve transit operations in severe ice, snow, and cold environments. The program was initially directed to solutions for automated guideway transit system cold weather problems in support of the downtown people mover program (DPM). However, curtailment of the DPM program in November 1980, caused UMTA to redirect the focus of the program to obtain solutions for cold weather problems of existing transit systems. Therefore, the objective of the CWTT program is to develop new and more effective solutions for cold weather problems experienced by urban mass transportation systems. This report presents heat transfer calculations which were performed to assist in the solution of problems in cold weather mass transit operations. The purpose of this research is to present calculated energy efficiencies and melting rates under the various operating conditions for a radio frequency (RF) induction ice removal process. This process induces the electromagnetic energy in the outer skin of rails with magnetic properties--in this case, at the rail-ice interface. following the formation of a thin water layer at the interface, the ice is easily scraped off the rail. The authors point out that this effort complements the work in the RF coil design group reported in Volume 14 and the system development test of Volume 5.

• Corporate Authors:

  Notre Dame University

  College of Engineering
  Notre Dame, Indiana,   United States  46556

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Strieder, W C
  • Jayaram, B S
• Publication Date: 1983-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 41 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cold weather; Deicing; Electromagnetic radiation; Melting; Radio waves; Railroad rails; Third rail
• Identifier Terms: Urban Mass Transportation Act
• Old TRIS Terms: Umta section 6
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00382621
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-IN-06-0009-8315Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: IN-06-0009
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 30 1984 12:00AM