Trelleborg Hourglass Springs for Siemens Combino Supra Tramcars
26 September 2006 15:41
Trelleborg Industrial AVS has developed a new variant of its well-known Metalastik® hourglass spring for the secondary suspension of Siemens Combino low-floor tramcars destined for Hungary and Portugal.
Under a €1.4 million contract, Trelleborg Industrial AVS is to supply hourglass bearer springs for a total of 64 tramcars plus spare parts that Siemens is building for Budapest and Metro Sul do Tejo (MST). The Metalastik® springs are mounted four per bogie, 16 per tramcar for MST and 24 per tramcar for Budapest. In this application, the design has been modified to feature a softer rubber compound and low-height configuration, giving the excellent ride quality required by Siemens. The whole process from receipt of the order through testing and delivery of the first pre-production parts took only three months.
Metalastik® hourglass springs consist of two hemispheres of rubber bonded to top, bottom and central steel plates, giving excellent load capacity and all-round flexibility. The design accommodates high horizontal, torsional and conical displacements, with vertical frequencies of 1.8 to 2.5Hz. It was developed as an alternative to air springs, which require complex ancillary systems. In addition to high-quality ride performance, the hourglass design offers simplicity, long service life and low maintenance.
Trelleborg Industrial AVS is a world leader in the design and manufacture of rubber to metal bonded components for anti-vibration applications and suspension systems. There are three main brands: Metalastik® is used in rail and marine applications, TrellExtreme® in agriculture/off-highway and Novibra® in industrial and power generation applications. The company's head office, technical centre and research and development units are located in Leicester, UK while production is divided between Leicester and Sjöbo in Sweden. Trelleborg Industrial AVS is approved to ISO 9001:2000.
For more information on this company:
Trelleborg - Antivibration Mountings and Suspension Systems
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