On 14 December 2017, representatives of Kovis Livarna attended the final conference of the Futura project in Martin, Slovakia. The Kovis Group, together with three foreign partners, has designed a project whose main objective is to improve the quality of life and safety of more than 55 million EU citizens living or working near the railway line. The high potential of the Futura project has also been recognized by the European Commission, as the project has received EU funding under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
On the conference the conclusions and results of the proposed action were presented.The Futura project will provide the latest development steps for the introduction of DRFB (splitted Rail Freight Brake Disc) for rail freight traffic. It is a revolutionary solution that significantly influences the three key elements of rail freight transport: 1) safety, 2) health and environment, and 3) cost-effectiveness with significant social, economic and technical effects.
Today there are two competing solutions: brake block K and a non-splitted brake disc. Although a non-splitted brake disc is a better solution because it provides greater safety, less noise and less vibration, it is used in practice in less than 10% of cases because it is not competitive. This problem will be eliminated by the Futura project.
Concrete goals of the Futura project are: reduction of the noise level, reduction of the braking distance, reduction of the vibrations and reduction of the mass of the brake disk. As a result, the actions will help to reduce the number of accidents, reduce damage to the load, increase the life of the wheels by 50% and reduce the cost of the life cycle of a brake disc. The DRFB brake disc will contribute significantly to the development of rail freight transport, which is more environmentally friendly than road and air transport. The available market size for innovations is around 12 billion Euros per year. The most important target markets are the EU, USA, Canada, Russia, China, India and Brazil.
