Open Collections

Lung, Ian Shi Yuan

University of British Columbia

Top of rail friction modifiers (TOR-FM) are used in the railway industry to reduce the coefficient of friction between the wheel and track. Previous work has shown that TOR-FMs increase fuel efficiency of trains, reduces wear on rails, and reduce noise. Spraying liquid FM onto the rail surface and applying solid sticks of lubricant to the wheel surface are current methods of applying TOR-FMs. These methods present a variety of challenges and shortcomings. An alternative method of applying TOR-FMs using electrostatic spray coating is studied. An optical method of measuring the deposition efficiency of sprays on moving surfaces is developed using a digital camera and light extinction. There exist various methods of measuring the areal density of settled particles on surfaces. Most of these techniques are expensive, intrusive, or time-consuming. We propose an inexpensive oblique light measurement technique using a digital camera to measure the areal density of a monolayer of particles on a moving surface. This measurement technique is applicable to both bright and dark powders deposited on contrasting backgrounds. A quantitative relationship between imaged pixel values of the surface and particle accumulation was developed and verified using a simple 2D luminosity model. We show an application of this method by measuring the deposition efficiency of electrostatically coated talc and polyurethane powders on a moving target surface. While the current process requires ex situ image processing, we describe the procedure of the method and lay out the steps required to automate the process such that real-time analysis of the surface can be conducted. This thesis also presents deposition efficiency results for talc on a moving surface. It was shown that the deposition efficiency is highly dependent on the corona discharge voltage. While the results are promising, the current deposition efficiency results are insufficient to make the method a financially viable alternative. Additional work needs to be done to optimize the deposition efficiency.

Text

2024-04-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84225

Mechanical Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/