Modernisation of repaired freight cars by application of composite materials

In this paper an issue of freight wagon modernisation using composite materials is presented. The aim of this work is to develop a technology of freight wagons modernisation during their periodic repair. The main problem during exploitation of concerned types of freight wagons designed for coal transport is corrosion of the wagon's body shell. The goal is to elongate the period between periodic repairs (by better corrosion protection) and improve conditions of exploitation of modernised freight cars. Application of the composite panels to the freight wagon's body shell is proposed as the solution that can solve mentioned problems. The composite panels composed of fiberglass and epoxy resin were proposed. Assumptions of proposed technology of modernisation and results of computer aided analysis of considered types of the freight cars are presented in this work.