HyperWorks Streamlines Design and Development of Diesel Export Locomotive at RDSO

The Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) was tasked with establishing Indian railways as a genuine supplier of Diesel locomotives for the South Asian and African market. The challenge was to develop a diesel locomotive that met performance, reliability, fuel economy, crashworthiness, and operator comfort demands. The locomotives needed to operate economically and safely for decades under harsh conditions with minimal downtime. Durability of components undergoing repeated fatigue cycles was a major concern, with most units logging more than 1 million miles during the first six years of operation and having a useful life of nearly 30 years. Some major components were expected to last more than 50 years in the used equipment market. Achieving these goals while shortening the development cycle was particularly challenging due to the significant time and cost factors associated with running physical tests on such large, complex machines. RDSO had been using simulation tools since 1990, but the time for pre-processing was too high due to limitations of computing machine and software.

The customer in this case study is the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), a unit under the Ministry of Railways in India. RDSO was established in 1957, integrating the Central Standards Office (CSO) and the Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC). The organization is responsible for testing and conducting applied research for the development of railway rolling stock, permanent way, and other related aspects. RDSO was tasked with the challenge of establishing Indian railways as a genuine supplier of Diesel locomotives for the South Asian and African market, requiring the development of a diesel locomotive that met stringent performance, reliability, and fuel economy demands.