MSC.Software has announced that Talgo has upgraded to the Enterprise Advantage License Unit (EALU) licensing system to allow flexible access to a range of MSC simulation solutions for its growing R&D team.

Talgo specializes in the design, manufacture and maintenance of railway material and equipment. The company uses Adams to validate train suspensions to fulfill certification standards and to perform faster simulations of high speed trains.

The flagship product made by the Talgo manufacturing company is a high speed passive tilting train equipped with a variable gauge system. This system enables the Talgo train to operate on different track types and therefore travel between several locations where different track gauges are used (i.e., France and Spain). During the development process for the 1668-mm gauge and 1435-mm gauge, the company was required to verify that the requirements according to the leaflet UIC 518 (testing and acceptance of railway vehicles from the point of view of dynamic behavior, safety, track fatigue and running behaviour) were respected.

This investigation was performed with Adams + VI-Rail and focused on the end car, conceived as the driving trailer and furnished with a free wheel rolling assembly and automatic gauge change system. A complete Talgo track inspection system, composed of traction bogies, car bodies, typical Talgo bogies with a passive tilting system, and detailed guidance system, has also been developed with the help of the Adams + VI Rail Template Builder. The results achieved in dynamic simulations, relative to comfort and safety, have been coherent regarding tilting in curves, lateral and vertical accelerations on car bodies, contact forces and guidance system.

"The simulation allowed us to accurately predict lateral contact forces and derailment quotients, required by the leaflet UIC 518, and therefore to virtually predict the fulfilment of the acceptance criteria," Said Emilio Garcia, Head of R+D, from Talgo. "Since those values are very sensitive to guiding behavior, it has been essential to be able to accurately model the guiding system in detail with Adams."

"We are really proud that Talgo decided to intensify its technological partnership with MSC.Software by selecting our flexible licensing system and by using Adams, the world's most widely used and trusted solution for real dynamics of engineered systems, for the simulation of its high speed train," said Kais Bouchiba, Senior Vice-President EMEA. "We are sure that the MSC CAE Solutions will help Talgo meet the safety and quality requirements and to accelerate its technology innovation."

Enterprise Advantage License Unit (EALU) is a flexible, parallel licensing system provided by MSC.Software. EALU allows access to the entire solution portfolio from MSC.Software through a license pool. At the core of EALU is MD Nastran. It is also possible to access other engineering products, such as MSC Nastran, Patran, Marc, MD Adams, Dytran, and Easy5. MD Nastran combines MSC Nastran, Marc, Dytran and LS-Dyna into a completely integrated, multidiscipline solution providing linear, implicit, and explicit non-linear calculations within a single solver platform.