FRA Initiatives: Dr. Magdy El-Sibaie, Chief of FRA's Track Research Division
By Bob Tuzik • May 26, 2005
The
Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Research and
Development is not the best known R&D organization in
the industry, but it is one of the most important. It's
work figures prominently in rulemaking and the regulatory
process for the industry. That role is significant in and
of itself. But FRA's Office of R&D also actively contributes
to and, in a very real sense, drives the industry's efforts
to understand and improve vehicle/track interaction on U.S.
railways.
Interface Journal
Editor Bob Tuzik spoke with the Dr. Magdy El-Sibaie, Chief
of FRA's Track and Rail Infrastructure Research Division,
about FRA initiatives in the area of wheel/rail interaction
on rail freight, commuter and Amtrak's high-speed passenger
lines.
Interface Journal (IJ):
FRA's R&D group has shown strong interest in wheel/rail
interaction initiatives. What's the basis for it?
El-Sibaie: FRA's mandate is to assure safety on freight and passenger railways. Beyond regulating the industry for safety, we also promote to the degree possible best practices and industry guidelines.
IJ: When you say promote, do you mean initiate?
El-Sibaie: Initiate
if necessary, but mostly promote when we recognize an industry
practice that can be improved or better utilized. We work
in partnership with the technical side of the industry to
determine when an improved practice is needed, and we provide
analytical support to various rule making activities by
which engineering consensus is sought.
IJ: For example.
El-Sibaie: Let's
look at wheel and rail profiles. Currently, FRA does not
have safety standards that explicitly address wheel and
rail profiles. The closest thing we have is in the high-speed
rules in the area that addresses the risk of wheel climb.
We know that flange angle is an important parameter in the
wheel climb mechanism, but we haven't set a minimum requirement
for flange angle. That's left up to the industry. But we
take flange angle into account when analyzing the derailment
quotient - the lateral to vertical load ratio - in
the qualification of specific vehicles and equipment.
IJ: With that, are you moving
toward establishing a minimum angle?
El-Sibaie: That
is not for me to decide, but we are helping the industry
from an R&D perspective better understand the role that
flange angle plays in preventing or promoting wheel climb,
and its role in the bigger picture of wheel/rail interaction.
This includes the type and extent of contact between wheels
and rails and the friction levels present in the contact
interface. A wheelsets' angle of attack can also affect
the level of derailment quotient above which wheel climb
may occur. FRA R&D is working with the freight and passenger
sides of the industry through the AAR [Association of American
Railroads], APTA [American Public Transit Association] and
other organizations to improve our understanding of these
parameters and improve performance and safety.
On the passenger side of the industry, the
flange angle issue came out of ongoing discussions within
RSAC (Railway Safety Advisory Committee), which FRA formed
to revise and update our high-speed standards. In these
early discussions, it was agreed that three issues, flange
angle, wheel conicity and truck equalization, would be best
if first addressed by the industry, rather than through
FRA rules. So APTA was given the task of looking at these
three issues. FRA will decide after APTA makes its report
whether it's appropriate to address these issues through
a rule or a recommended practice.
Understand that I am only speaking for the
R&D side of FRA, which supports and advises the Office
of Safety on technical matters. We serve as internal advisors
to the Office of Safety to determine the soundness of certain
rule making proposals. We also look at applications from
railroads to modify standards or to issue a waiver from
a specific standard. We also work directly with the industry
to advance the understanding of derailment mechanisms and
the techniques that we can use to improve the safe operation
of wheel and rail systems.
