MAT602: Material Selection in

Design
Investigation into our armature, coil and core design for Q-Relays.
Agenda
Who are Siemens Mobility?

What we do

An introduction to relays

Original Solution

Adhesion Test Procedure

The challenge

Requirements

Q&A

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 Who are Siemens Mobility?
You may have seen the Siemens brand before…
Siemens Siemens
Siemens AG
Energy Healthineers

Digital industries Power and Heat Generation Diagnostic Imaging

Smart infrastructure Grid Technologies Laboratory Diagnostics
Siemens Advanta Storage Solutions Advanced therapies
Mobility Ultrasound
Point of Care Diagnostics

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 Who are Siemens Mobility?
• Siemens Mobility (SMO) is a division of Siemens
AG

• Siemens Mobility specialises in providing solutions

in:
• Rail
• Road
• Intermodal Systems

• Founded by Werner Von Siemens in 1847.

• In the UK we have over 30 sites, employs 5,000+

people.

• Projects include; Thameslink, New Piccadilly Line

trains, Core Valley Lines -

• In 2013, Siemens acquired Invensys Rail (formerly

Westinghouse Rail Systems)

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 What we do
Rolling Stock Rail Automation

• In Rail our expertise are in:

• At Siemens Chippenham, we work under

Rail Automation

• We manufacture railway interlocking and

signalling equipment
Rail Electrification Turnkey Solutions

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 An introduction to relays

• One of our key product - accounts for 15% of

our total sales at Chippenham site.

• Manufactured since the 1800’s

• Domestic customers include Network Rail

and London Underground.

• Used globally operating in Asia, USA and

Australia.

• Still a reliable means of controlling

interlocking equipment ensuring right-side
failure (fail-safe).

Track Circuit: Block Occupied cite: © The Railway

Technical Website 2019

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 An introduction to relays

Signals at Glasgow Central

Location case near Manchester Piccadilly

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 An introduction to relays

• Q Relay comprises of several components.

• Q relays are ferromagnetic - they become magnetised

when a specific magnetic field is passed through it.

• In an “On” position an electric current induces a

magnetic field in the coil, pulling armature down.

• Creates contacts between the Silver-Graphite pieces.

© Siemens Ltd

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 Original Solution

• We will look at the Coil and Core assembly,

Armature, Heel Piece.

• Made from Zinc Plated Soft Iron

• Soft Iron has ferromagnetic properties

• Zinc Plating protects from rust

© Siemens Ltd

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 Original Solution
How are the coil/armature pieces made?

1. Raw Iron is prepared in 75m2 sheets

2. Material is then hot rolled
3. After hot rolling the material is bright drawn
4. At this stage the Iron undergoes Annealing
to boost its magnetic properties
5.Material under goes finishing such as
grinding and polishing to get it to the required
shape and size
1.Acid cleaning to remove oxides and
surface contamination (pickling)
2.Zinc is electroplated and passivated
with trivalent passivate
3.Plated and Passivated component is
dipped in clear sealant
1. Finished product is rinsed and
dried
2. Product is tested running 10
Million mechanical operations
(ATE Testing)

Forming the Finished

Plating
Soft Iron Product

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 Adhesion Test Procedure

To test the adhesive quality of our relay plating we use the following test procedures:

• Cut into test piece two lines

•Test Piece heated to 150°C
for 1 hour in an oven.
•Immediately quenched in
de-ionised water at room
temperature for 30 mins.
• 5% NaCl solution sprayed onto
piece and inspected after 72 Hours
(3 days) for degradation or
corrosion.
• Compliant to ASTIM B117/BS
7479 (ISO 9227) NSS DIN 50021
•Test piece bent at 180° repeatedly
until failure,
•The test piece is the pried with
sharp blade in an attempt to lift the
coating
• BS EN ISO 2819:2018
90° from each other using a
1mm blading tool
• Tape is applied over lattice
(20mm further) for 5mins
• Tape is peeled off at 60°
from the direction of the
groove in the lattice.

Heat and Salt and Cross-Hatch

Bend Test
Quench Test Spray Test Test

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 The Challenge

So what’s the problem…?

• Siemens conducts its own quality checks

with a sample size of the parts our
suppliers send us.

• We have noticed “Blistering” on the plating.

• While the root cause is unknown any sign

of blistering means the batch is rejected

• Results in a costly rework of the entire

batch.
Blistering visible on cores

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 The Challenge

Blistering is bad for the following reasons…

1. Give the impression of poor quality to our customers.

2. Eventually will lead to flaking of plating and, over time,

rust. Our relays will require more servicing over its
lifetime.

3. Flaking plating has the potential to cause short circuits

Clapham Junction Incident, 1988 © BBC
in the relay that can lead to a wrong side failure.

The challenge is for yout to come up with an alternative solution for our armatures….

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 Requirements
Meet the BR930
For this task your solution must: specifications for relay
design (specifically
magnetic circuit)

Have High Corrosion

Resistivity

Have a Magnetic Coercivity

of less than 1.0 Oersted

Be Cost effective – (approx.

£13 per unit of Heelpiece)

RoHS compliant

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 Q&A
Some FAQ’s

• Q: Do I have to stick to the method in the Original Solution?

• A: No, you don’t have to, the original solution is only to act as a guide.

• Q: Do I get additional materials to help with research?

• A: Yes, we will provide the BR930 Standard, Q-Relay Datasheet to get you started. I will leave a Q-

Relay with your lecturer should you want to see one up close.

• Q: If I do this assignment do I get a job?

• A: As nice as that would be, no. However it would put you in good stead for our (3-month Summer

and Year long) Internship applications which are open. Links are at the end of the slides.

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Any Questions?

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 Useful Links

For understanding here are some following links

Introduction to relays – The Engineering Mindset

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n594CkrP6xE

Introduction to Signalling – Network Rail (For relays fast forward to 5:07)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4q3i5aw6XQ

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 Vacancies are Open! Apply Now!

Please find below details about the internship programmes we offer:

• 3-Month Summer Placement – this typically runs between June and September each year.

• 12-Month Internship – with the Internship Development Programme.

Applications for roles starting in 2023 are open now, and will be closing soon. We have a range of
roles all available at http://www.siemens.co.uk/interns

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 Thank You

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Citations

Clapham Junction rail crash 1988: Events remember the dead (2018) BBC News. BBC. Available at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46509473 (Accessed: January 30, 2023).

Connor, P. and Schmid, F. (2012) The Railway Technical Website: Signalling, | The Railway Technical
Website | PRC Rail Consulting Ltd. Available at: http://www.railway-technical.com/signalling/ (Accessed:
January 30, 2023).

“Q Relay: Typical Style Q Relay Datasheet” (2014). Chippenham: Siemens Ltd.

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Contact
Jashua Burton
Product Support Engineer
Siemens Mobility Limited
SMO UKI RC-GB TRG ELT RI-GRAD GB/CHM
17 Langley Park Way
Chippenham SN15 1GG, United Kingdom
E-mail Jashua.burton@siemens.com

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