Mathematical Modeling of the Load of an Open Wagon Body with Corrugated Sheet Metal

This article presents mathematical modeling results in terms of the load-bearing properties of an open wagon body with corrugated sheet metal. The main hypothesis of this study is that the use of corrugated sheet metal will improve wall cladding strength under its operating load conditions. We calculated the strength of typical cladding sheet metal, as well as of corrugated sheet metal, to verify this hypothesis. We found that using corrugated sheet metal as wall body cladding allows for reduced stresses from the loads acting on it, together with reduced sheet metal mass. Optimization calculations were carried out using the criterion of minimum material consumption to determine the optimal sheet metal parameters. For this purpose, we formed mathematical models with real variable values. We found that the mass of the optimized sheet metal design is 32% lower than that of typical sheet metal. A spatial model of an open wagon body was built, and its strength was calculated under the main operating load conditions and considering the determined sheet metal parameters. The calculation results proved that the body strength is maintained under all considered design load schemes. The research conducted here will contribute to creating recommendations for modern railway vehicle structures, their modernization, and for increasing railway transport operation efficiency in the current transport industry development stage.