Tim McSweeney

Published: Sep 18, 2014 by 27th International Congress - Condition Monitoring & Diagnostic Engineering, Brisbane, Australia, 16-18 September 2014.
Authors: Dwayne Nielsen, Richard Egelstaff, Tim McSweeney.
Subjects: Engineering - Civil

This paper describes a decision support framework that allows asset managers to conduct “what-if” maintenance scenarios to railway bridges. Managers are encouraged to apply one of three strategies (refurbish, upgrade or renew) to estimate future network budgets. The framework calculates life cycle costs from life gained due to maintenance actions, maintenance costs, maintenance strategy, discount rate, intervention trigger time and minimum intervention intervals.

Published: Aug 27, 2014 by New Trends in Mechanism and Machine Science, Vol. 24, pp. 523-532, Springer, Cham, Switzerland. ISBN: 978-3319094106.
Authors: Maksym Spiryagin, Shah Sanjar Nafis Ahmad, Colin Cole, Yan Quan Sun, Tim McSweeney.
Subjects: Engineering - Mechanical

Investigation of the dynamic behaviour of a wagon suspension was performed with the full-scale rail vehicle test rig at the Centre for Railway Engineering. At the design stage of a test rig, it is necessary to estimate the working behaviour of subsystems (e.g., electrical, hydraulic). The optimal method is the usage of the real-time simulation process, which is also called hardware-in the-loop simulation. In this paper, the authors focus on their simulation and verification methodology.

Published: Jul 11, 2014 by 7th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety & Management, Shanghai, China, 7-11 July 2014.
Authors: Dwayne Nielsen, Tim McSweeney, Dhamodharan Raman.
Subjects: Engineering - Civil

Life Cycle Cost Analysis is complex when applied at an individual bridge component level within a large bridge population while considering multiple maintenance strategies, deterioration rates and intervention intervals. A decision support model is presented that proposes future maintenance interventions based on a selection of maintenance strategies and given budget constraints. Remaining service life of surrounding components is considered when assessing appropriate maintenance actions.

Published: Aug 23, 2013 by 23rd International Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and on Tracks, Qingdao, China, 19–23 August, 2013.
Authors: Maksym Spiryagin, Colin Cole, Yan Quan Sun, Tim McSweeney, Valentyn Spiryagin, Nicolai Gorbunov, Alexander Golubenko.
Subjects: Engineering - Mechanical

This paper provides the comparison results for axle load distribution dependant on traction and stiffness parameters for a locomotive running under traction for a dry friction condition on straight track, and also results describing curving performance. The running modes without traction and with maximum tractive effort have also been taken into consideration for the curve performance study, and some results and discussion are provided.

Published: Aug 22, 2013 by 23rd International Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and on Tracks, Qingdao, China, 19–23 August 2013.
Authors: Maksym Spiryagin, Colin Cole, Yan Quan Sun, Tim McSweeney, Chris Bossomworth, Mark Hayman, Ingemar Persson.
Subjects: Engineering - Mechanical

The design of a mechatronic real-time multibody model of a locomotive’s three axle bogie is presented based on the application of a software-in-the-loop approach. This approach requires development of different subsystems of the bogie test rig as real-time models. In this paper, the investigation of such a real-time application of the full model of the locomotive’s bogie test rig has been undertaken and verified.

Published: Apr 28, 2013 by Journal of Rail & Rapid Transit, Vol. 227(5), pp. 453-468.
Authors: Maksym Spiryagin, Andrew George, Yan Quan Sun, Colin Cole, Tim McSweeney, Scott Simson.
Subjects: Engineering - Mechanical

Acceptable locomotive dynamic behaviour is governed by various standards around the world; some allow use of multibody simulation tools in place of some physical testing. Detailed locomotive model acceptance procedures regulating use of virtual multibody locomotive models do not yet exist. This paper discusses a locomotive model acceptance procedure proposed for Australian freight locomotives. Case studies are given to show how to implement the methodology on a heavy haul locomotive model.

Published: Sep 21, 2012 by Vehicle System Dynamics - International Journal of Vehicle Mechanics & Mobility, Vol. 51(2), 2013, pp. 236-250.
Authors: Maksym Spiryagin , Yan Quan Sun , Colin Cole , Tim McSweeney , Scott Simson, Ingemar Persson.
Subjects: Engineering - Mechanical

Design of rail vehicle mechatronic systems requires performing verification/validation in real-time mode which can be done using software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop or processor-in-the-loop simulation approaches. The verification of the possibility of using such a real-time model of a locomotive bogie test rig created in Gensys multibody software has been made by means of a simple data transferring process between Gensys and Simulink through the TCP/IP interface.

Published: Mar 04, 2008 by Journal of Computers and Geotechnics, Vol. 35(5), 2008, pp. 719-728.
Authors: Senanie Sujeewa Radampola, Netra Gurung, Tim McSweeney, Manicka Dhanasekar.
Subjects: Engineering - Civil

Even thick capping layers placed below railway track ballast to protect underlying soil fail to totally eliminate plastic deformation. This paper reports an economical method to evaluate the elastoplastic material properties of capping layer material using penetration tests on specimens contained in rigid test moulds, coupled with a finite element modelling based back-calculation approach. The material properties thus determined are shown to be as effective as using full scale laboratory tests.

Published: Dec 12, 2007 by Conference on Adaptive Science & Technology, Accra, Ghana, 10–12 Dec, 2007. ISBN: 1921047488.
Authors: Yeboah Gyasi-Agyei, James Fox, Surya Bhattarai, Tim McSweeney, Darryl Nissen.
Subjects: Engineering - Civil

This paper provides an overview of advances made to mitigate erosion problems of railway steep slopes (batters) of embankments/cuttings. Our research effort has been focused on strategies to aid quick establishment of grasses on batters. These include modifying topsoil quality of batters to provide a medium conducive to grass growth, and seed treatment to accelerate the germination process. It has been established that 60% grass cover reduces erosion by over 90% compared with the bare scenario.

Published: Nov 24, 2005 by AUSRAIL Plus 2005 Conference Technical Papers, Sydney, Australia, 22–24 November 2005.
Authors: Michael Martin, Tim McSweeney, Darryl Nissen.
Subjects: Engineering - Civil

Given the complex interaction of factors which contribute to track degradation, it is critical to have a logical analysis process to ensure that track faults are correctly identified. The "Top Down" approach looks first at the rail and then in turn at the sleepers and fastenings, down through the ballast, capping layer, subgrade and drainage systems to see where the problem is occurring. This provides a common sense holistic approach to track the identification of track and substructure faults.