I decided to add another couple of details, (with more to follow), to the Bogie Assembly so some progress has been made since my last post on the SSYMS Flatbed Rail Car.
I opted to create the inner support members for the Bogies, they are basically a vertically elongated "I" Beam with holes in them. I made them in four pieces for easier printing, no supports required. the amount of strength they add is considerable.
If I had planned to add them from the beginning I would have incorporated slots into the bottom of the "H" shaped upper crossbrace, but hindsight is always 20-20. One downside was I had already assembled on of the Bogie assemblies, which is another reason why they are in four pieces, in order to squeeze them into place within the assembled unit, otherwise there would have been only three pieces.
In the pictures you will see the Yellow "I" beam with the holes is on top the Red on the Bottom and the Blue are the fillets to match the webbing and reinforce the connection between the Red lower plate and the Yellow "I" Beam. Also the Red beam is notched on the ends where it joins vertical side plates. This adds a lot more strength to the assembled unit.
Here is the Bogie assembly with the lower inner crossbraces installed they weren't too difficult to get in there, luckily PLA flexes pretty good. Also a comparison between what I had downloaded and modified somewhat and what I created to replace it.
Original & New Bogie assembliesThe next detail (Leaf Springs) opened up a whole new can of worms, so these will be added probably after I assemble the Rail car. I have started making the parts but I have a ways to go before they can be mounted, as I have to create all the mounting hardware.
I am still debating whether to make them functional or not, they wont have much in the way of travel and may very well break when I put the load of a tank on them, I am hedging my bets by printing both the one piece units and the multi-piece units.
Decisions , decision, either way there are a bunch of bracketry associated with mounting the springs, temporarily I may just attach them to the top of the axle boxes until I get all the mounting parts made.
That's it for now, I guess I didn't peak anybody's interest in the next 3D printing project, so the secret remains.
Steve