Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will engage in a project that offers opportunities for you to explore issues in the design, modelling and analysis of railway vehicle/ track systems. Depending on your previous knowledge and experience, you may choose to investigate traction and braking, vehicle dynamics or structural engineering aspects. You will examine real-world problems and apply state-of-the-art simulation and analysis tools. In the context of a train system (large mining heavy haul, mixed freight or passenger rail) you may solve problems such as control, electrical machines, contact mechanics, multi-body dynamics, stress and strain and vibrations.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 8 |
| Credit Points | 12 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.25 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Portfolio | 100% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 50% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Students' emails and extension requests.
The problem with access to Simpack software on the Anydesk platform was reported by the students. The students were unable to connect to Anydesk due to a limited number of available connections.
Work with ITD to improve Anydesk performance and investigate alternative software solutions.
This year, two software solutions (Simpack and Gensys) were proposed to students.
Source: Moodle website
The disconnect was noticed between some students and a tutor, and this possibly brought down those students' performance outcomes.
To encourage students to use the Q&A forum on the website instead of personal emails and to recommend a tutor to provide a quick response to students' inquiries in future offerings.
A direct connection was established between the teaching team and students. The students were also actively notified about all activities through the Moodle website.
Source: Feedback from the teaching team and students
The issue with the licensing renewal of Simpack. It caused some uncertainties in work with Simpack software in Weeks 4-6.
To use the perpetual license file that will cover us until 2026 with the current Simpack versions.
In Progress
Source: Feedback from students
The issue of student access to the Australian standard AS7509:2017 through the library system.
The information on how to access Australian standards through CQU's digital library subscription system should be provided to students during the Week 1 lecture.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Apply discipline knowledge to a complex rail engineering subsystem
- Conduct advanced analysis and sensitivity analysis of design parameter(s) in a design/ optimisation process
- Specify and justify effective design that meets stakeholder requirements
- Identify and use appropriate techniques to review a design
- Determine state-of-the-art rail engineering subsystems
- Reflect on the contribution of this project to your professional development.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Communication | • | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Research | • | • | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | • | • | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |