B&M Track

[JRHcoasterki]

Hey! This is very random, but I was watching on-ride videos of just random B&M coasters and I noticed that say on Nitro, the track has the square spine such and such. But then I watched a video of Griffon and I noticed that the spine seemed wider but thinner so the rails were closer to the spine. Am I crazy, or does B&M have slightly different tracks on their Dive Machines? Or do they have several slightly different tracks on different coasters and I just don't notice it? I know this is random... But I was just wondering.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

There are indeed subtle differences in B&M's track depending on the type of ride it's designed for.

[XYZ]

I believe Dive Machines have a stronger track since the trains are very wide which means it is heavier per row than a B&M Hyper.

Edited June 8, 2012 by XYZ

[JRHcoasterki]

Oh alright! That makes sense. Thanks!

[Ed Farmer]

On top of what has been mentioned, the thickness of the track spine can vary over the course of the layout. Based on forces, I presume.

[KingRCT3]

The Dive's track is very different than the others : larger and the cross-ties aren't the same.

 

 

But here's even a subtle difference between sit-downs and Inverted:

 

Here, the cross-ties are straight.

 

But here, they are gay rounded.

 

(Images taken from CoastersWorld.fr)

[spinning man]

As mentioned from a previous post, the thickness of the box section changes depending on the type of forces the track will have to withstand on that section. These changes are on all type of coasters. But the ones where you can see the differences the clearest are on dive machines and on hyper coasters.

[KingRCT3]

^ Yup, as you can see on Silverstar.

 

 

Also, here's a video about their fabrication:

 

[Invertalon]

B&M does use different spine depth on various parts of the rides along with different tie designs based off the type of coaster it is.

 

You will notice on B&M rides that use less supports and/or high stress areas, the spine will be deeper. Thus increasing the moment of inertia on the track (resistance to bending) in that axis. Thus they can reduce the amount of supports used, which saves money. Intamin has start doing this as well with their new track design with the double spine, which does the same thing. If you notice, compare the amount of supports on a ride like Hershey's new ride versus the older Ride of Steel's with the old design.

 

The same concept can be shown with something like a ruler. Orient the ruler "flat" and you can bend it very easily. Now rotate it 90* so you are trying to bend it "sideways" if you will. It is now very difficult to bend. Same principal they are using with track designs. Deeper the spine, the more resistance it has to forces/bending.

 

The equation used for calculating the moment of inertia explains why clearly. For a rectangle (shape of B&M spine), the equation is I = (bh^3)/12 ... b = base of rectangle, h= height of rectangle. Notice the height goes to the third power. So it greatly increases the resistance of the spine to bending.

[MagicAngel94]

these are some parts of the track og Gardaland 2015 B&M Dive Coaster.

In particular, I wanted to ask what is the piece of track with metal wings. can be a part of launch?

 

[KingRCT3]

No, those are brake fins like those on Krake. Never understood why those were vertical when B&M always uses horizontal magnets.

 

[DJeXeL]

B&M only uses the vertical style brake fin on Dive coasters for some reason.

[thrillseeker4552]

^Specifically, the small Dive coasters (Krake, this, and possibly Efteling). Griffon and Sheikra both have horizontal magnetic brakes.

 

When B&M eventually builds a launch coaster of their own, I can pretty much guarantee that the vertical magnets will be used. Don't really know why, but it seems likely.

[TPDave]

^ Could just be that this is a newer design and it somehow more efficient or economical than the older rides, so not necessarily pegged to the coasters size.

 

It's not uncommon for incremental design changes to creep in over the lifespan of a product range like this.