5AT FDCs
Fundamental Design Calculations for 5AT Advanced Steam Locomotive
Introduction: Funding was obtained at the start of the project for undertaking the Fundamental Design Calculations (FDCs) for the 5AT locomotive. This task was completed by David Wardale in 2004 after some two and a half years of work. It is instructive to read Dave Wardale’s summary of his work which are presented on a separate page.
The Fundamental Design Calculations cover the basic engineering design for the locomotive, and form the technical foundation from which the detailed design and manufacturing drawings etc will be undertaken. The FDCs are extremely detailed and in the case of the most critical items such as the reciprocating components, they extend almost to the level of “detail design”.
The introductory “General Calculations” which define the performance criteria upon which the remaining FDCs are based, are reproduced on this website. Several notes are included relating to these pages, some describing criteria or suppositions upon which individual FDCs have been based, others summarizing conclusions that have been derived from the calculations.
Summary of FDC Calculations: A summary of completed calculations is tabulated below:
| Item No | Description | No of Pages* | Lines of Calcs | Notes |
| FDC 1 | General Calculations (see note) | |||
| FDC 1.1 | Determination of Target Power & Tractive Effort – Speed Characteristics | 4 | 51 | Latest update 26 Aug 2002; Posted on website. |
| FDC 1.2 | Determination of Target Load – Speed – Gradient Curves | 2 | 16 | Latest update 26 Aug 2002; Posted on website. |
| FDC 1.3b | Preliminary Basic Calculations amendment (b) | 13 | 268 | Latest update 22 Jan 2007; Posted on website. |
| FDC 1.3.F.Rev2 | Preliminary Basic Calculations (final version) Rev 2 | 14 | 269 | Latest update 21 Jan 2007; Posted on website. |
| FDC 1.4 | Tractive Effort Diagrams | 10 | 79 | Latest update 3 Jul 2004; Posted on website |
| FDC 2 | Reciprocating Components of the Engine and Drive Gear | |||
| FDC 2.1 | Pistons, Rings Rods and Tail Rods | 27 | 520 | Latest update 14 Apr 2003 |
| FDC 2.2 | Crosshead and Slidebars | 11 | 228 | Latest update 3 Jul 2003 |
| FDC 2.3 | Connecting Rods | 18 | 375 | Latest update 16 Mar 2003 |
| FDC 3 | Crankpins, Coupling Rods, Driving & Coupled Axles, and Crankpin & Axle Roller Bearings | 21 | 420 | Latest update 3 Jul 2004 |
| FDC 4 | Piston Valves, Valve Rings, Valve Spindles and Packings (see notes) | 21 | 500 | Latest update 5 Jul 2003 |
| FDC 5 | Valve Gear | 31 | 694 | Completed 23 June 2003 |
| FDC 6 | Cylinders and Cylinder Liners | 12 | 228 | Latest update 3 Jul 2004 |
| FDC 7 | Valve Liner Cooling Steam Calculations | 10 | 180 | Completed 13 Mar 2004 |
| FDC 8 | Wheel Balancing (see notes) | 11 | 146 | Latest update 30 Apr 2004 |
| FDC 9 | Feedwater Heating (see notes) | 9 | 147 | Last update 22 Aug 2003 |
| FDC 10 | Combustion Air Heating | 7 | 136 | Completed 19 Aug 2003 |
| FDC 11 | Boiler | |||
| FDC 11.1 | Boiler Strength (see notes) | 21 | 334 | Completed 28 Feb 2004 |
| FDC 11.2 | Boiler Combustion System | 12 | 130 | Completed 28 Nov 2003 |
| FDC 11.3 | Combustion Gas + Steam Flow and Heat Transfer | 38 | 996 | Completed 28 Feb 2004 |
| FDC 12 | Exhaust System (see notes) | 16 | 347 | Completed 12 Apr 2004 |
| FDC 13 | Spring Rigging (see notes) | 10 | 164 | Last updated 2 Aug 2004 |
| FDC 14 | Mainframe | 22 | 237 | Completed 4 July 2004 |
| FDC 15 | Brakes | 8 | 88 | Completed 11 Aug 2004 |
| FDC 16 | Leading Bogie + Engine Stability | 13 | 165 | Completed 6 Nov 2004 |
| FDC 17 | Specification of Proprietary Equipment | 9 | 91 | Completed 20 Oct 2004 |
| FDC 18 | Performance Predictions (see notes) | 8 | 150 | Completed 22 Feb 2005 |
| TOTALS | 364 | 6691 | [* page totals exclude illustrations but include listings of references.] | |