13.3.2025
A contract was signed in late January to expand the research and development capacities of BONATRANS GROUP a.s., through the purchase of a multifunctional testing facility.
The facility is used for fatigue tests and for testing the rate of crack propagation in railway wheelsets. This equipment allows to apply on the tested wheelset, in addition to a two-point bending force, also a four-point bending force, and thus fully simulate the real loads to which a railway wheelset is exposed in operation. It also allows torsions tests to be performed.
The project, "Progressive Procedure and Equipment for Testing Railway Wheelsets and Their Parts", has been co-financed by the EU through a subsidy provided from the Operational Program Technologies and Application for Competitiveness; the equipment itself will be delivered in the early 2026.
The advantage of this equipment, which works on the principle of resonance, is the speed of testing and low costs of electricity consumption compared to standard resonance or electro-hydraulic testing equipment.