SYSIFE – Railway Infrastructure Loading System

Partially funded by the Pays de la Loire region within the framework of CPER 2015–2020, the SII laboratory is equipped, within the Nantes center’s vibration bench facility, with a Railway Infrastructure Loading System called Sysife. This equipment is designed to perform fatigue testing on mock-ups (up to full scale) of innovative railway structures.

The original linear cyclic loading system is intended to test any type of track structure (ballast, concrete, asphalt, transition zones). Its innovative aspect lies in the cyclic loading mechanism, which allows the continuous high-speed movement of the load along the rail. This avoids the known drawbacks of multi-actuator loading systems, which tend to localize fatigue and irreversible settlement at singular points of the tested structures.

Adjacent to this major facility are two testing platforms and a mechanical workshop. The reinforced concrete testing platforms measure 9 m × 4 m and 15 m × 6 m, respectively, with a height of 2.5 m. They are equipped with anchor points where jacks or test assemblies can be mounted. A wide range of dynamic tests for research and industry are conducted on these platforms, including dynamic analysis of equipment, structural fatigue testing, calibration of numerical models, and evaluation of components or structures, notably through contractual testing.

The mechanical workshop allows the fabrication of assemblies dedicated to testing.

The machine park, covering various manufacturing domains, notably includes a lathe, a milling machine, a shear, a press brake, and welding stations. The milling machine was purchased as part of a €40k investment in 2019. Within the SII team, this setup is supported by strong expertise in mechanical design and instrumentation.

In 2022, the Sysife system benefited from a Scientific Investment (IS) from the Pays de la Loire region. This regional support allowed for increased loading capacity and adaptation of Sysife to the 15 m testing platform. After internal design, the new gantries were delivered in early 2023, and the new 15 m loading beams in mid-2024. The investment also enabled the development of the control electronics and the surrounding environment, including storage space and platform safety.