Conclusion
Composites in railway construction

Today, it can be stated that the more multifunctional the structures studied, the more technically and economically competitive composite-based multi-material concepts are.

These concepts provide :

• a technical gain by providing solutions that are genuinely more efficient in terms of comfort, mechanical characteristics, weight reduction, etc;

• in the specific case of rail and high-speed trains, a reduction of at least 20% in the cost price of equipped carriages, without taking into account induced effects such as :

  • shorter lead times. For example, the complete manufacture of an integrated boiler for a large vehicle line, including thermal insulation, window and door frames, ventilation ducts, equipment supports, etc., takes around 150 hours and can be automated to over 50%,

  • the reduction of production floor space,...