Hitachi Rail · Frecciarossa 1000Italy

Quieter coaches at 300 km/h, and 17.7 tonnes lighter

All-metal floating-floor dampers for Italy's 300 km/h high-speed train: lighter than the specification allowed, with a fatigue life of 10 million cycles.

17.7 t
weight saved across the fleet: 352 kg
saved per train, the weight of 4 passengers: 10 M
fatigue cycles, resonance drift under 5%: 300 km/h
operating speed

1The challenge
Comfort at 300 km/h, inside a weight budget
At high speed the powertrain sends vibration into the coach floor. Hitachi needed floor dampers that would isolate it, survive 10 million fatigue cycles, keep their natural frequency stable and weigh no more than 305 g each.
2The solution
100% metal dampers under the floating floor
Silentflex designed all-metal dampers for the floating floor that also compensate installation tolerances. Working load 25 to 800 N, resonance between 25 and 40 Hz, maximum deformation 1 mm up to 960 N. The same technology isolates tables and seats, the toilet module, the roof air conditioning, doors and fans.
3The result
220 g instead of 305 g, on every damper
Each damper came in at 220 g against the 305 g allowed. Across the fleet that is 17,700 kg less to carry: 352 kg per train, the weight of four passengers. Fatigue tests over 10 million cycles kept the resonance frequency within 5%.

Weight per damper

Before · Allowed by the specification305 g

After · Silentflex damper220 g

−28%