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To witness the collaboration between Zamperla SpA and the University of Padua, the article published on the scientific magazine “Welding in the world”, to which participated, at the end of a long research path, the Engineering team of Antonio Zamperla Spa, in the persons of Vittorio Babini, Chief Engineering Officer, Michele Zanetti, Roller Coasters Engineer, and Prof. Giovanni Meneghetti of the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Padua.

The journey began two years ago, when Michele Zanetti was still a student on the master’s degree course in Mechanical Engineering and Zamperla had funded a research grant to study the application of new methods for evaluating the fatigue strength of welded joints in complex structures, applying in an industrial context, methods that until then had been confined to the Academy.

We found scientific confirmation of evidence we had reached with experience and learned calculation methods that allow us to overcome the limits of standards that still do not contemplate the state of the art,

Vittorio Babini tells us.

The great thing was also to examine with Prof. Meneghetti some typical details of complex structures such as roller coaster tracks that are not reflected in the fatigue strength curves available in current standards and literature. This will allow us to optimize geometries, materials and construction processes of the most complex rides, consolidating the highest safety standards that characterize us.

This experience started a long time ago and will not end with this paper. Zamperla, in fact, will continue to collaborate with the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padua on issues of structural integrity of welded structures, metal mechanical components and more. Michele Zanetti is now part of the roller coaster design team at Zamperla and commented on this experience with these words:

The publication of the article in an international scientific journal, which collects the results of a year's research on the study of welded joint fatigue, is a fine recognition for the company and represents a successful example of collaboration between university research and industry.

Vittorio Babini (left), Chief Engineering Officer, and Michele Zanetti (right), Roller Coasters Engineer.