Product development

Our innovations are inspired by the needs of railway industry

Innovations from the Bochumer Verein  – the resilient wheels for local traffic, the stress-balanced solid wheel for passenger and high-speed traffic, deep-cambered solid wheels for block-braked freight and passenger traffic, Highly effective wheel noise absorbers … – they all write a little history, because they are answers to the requirements of time. And because they are profitable for manufacturers and users – Acceptance for their vehicles, market shares, cost savings. We are consistently following this route. In addition to safety, the focus is on three key aspects: the lightweight construction, the acoustics and the service life, because this is where the greatest benefit for our customers lies.

Lightweight construction

Consistent lightweight construction increases utilization options and cost-effectiveness. That’s why we already consistently use lightweight materials and molded lightweight construction wherever possible, as in the case of stress-balanced wheels. And the boundaries of what is possible are permanently in movement. The use of new materials and alloys, for instance, inevitably calls for new approaches to construction.

Our resilient hybrid wheels are a good example of the benefits that can be achieved by using this technology. By using aluminum, the weight per wheel can be reduced by up to 30%. This serious reduction in unsprung masses protects the track and vehicle and saves energy and maintenance costs. On the other hand, these advantages require corresponding design solutions for the shaft/hub and screw connections or the current recirculation, to name just a few examples. And we have them under control.

Acoustics

Noise is everywhere. Noise damages health, insidiously and permanently. Therefore, anything that helps reduce noise emissions from rail vehicles increases the acceptance of rail transport, whether in cities or around rail lines. And it also pays off for the operator – through reduced track access charges and satisfied residents and passengers.

With the extra-quiet freight wagon wheelset, we achieved an unprecedented 73 to 75 dB(A) during the test runs we carried out. Stress-balanced  wheels, sound-absorbing coatings, radial-wheel sound absorbers – it is the intelligent combination of different measures that brings the breakthrough in this field. The fact that we also have comparable solutions for high-speed traffic, locomotives, underground and city trains and the like is part of our strategy.

Lifetime

The service life of products, i.e. high mileage combined with high availability and ease of servicing, is a key measure of profitability – for operators as well as for us. The good reputation that BVV wheels have enjoyed here for a long time is no coincidence – after all, product and material development and manufacturing have traditionally worked hand in hand at our company. This promotes exceptional performance.

This is particularly clear from the example of the new high-speed wheel made of the material UltraDur ER8H for the Chinese long-distance routes. The world’s leading product in terms of smoothness and mileage was developed by us in close cooperation with the customer. With a depth hardness of 265 HBW around the wheel tread, it meets the most demanding requirements: Speeds up to 380 km/h, temperature fluctuations from -40 ° C to + 45 ° C, humidity up to 95%, resistance to strong winds, rain, snow and acid rain, sandstorms and salt spray and the like.