Dynamic Test of a Collision Post of a State-of-the-Art End Frame Design

Details

• Creators:
  Priante, Michelle ; Llana, Patricia ; Jacobsen, Karina ; Jeong, David ; Perlman, Benjamin
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Collisions
  • Impact tests
  • Crashworthiness
  • Energy absorption
  • Dynamic tests
  • Dynamic structural analysis
  • Railroad accidents
  • Dynamic testing
  • Structural analysis (Engineering)
  • Metals-impact testing
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RTDF2008-74020
• Resource Type:
  Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Abstract:
  In support of the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) ; Railroad Equipment Safety Program, a full-scale dynamic test ; of a collision post of a state-of-the-art (SOA) end frame was ; conducted on April 16, 2008. The purpose of the test was to ; evaluate the dynamic method for demonstrating energy ; absorption and graceful deformation of a collision post. ; The post aims to protect the operators and passengers in ; the event of a collision where only the superstructure, not the ; underframe, is loaded. Methods for improving the performance ; of collision and corner posts were prompted by accidents such ; as the fatal collision in Portage, Indiana in 1998, where a coil ; of steel sheet metal penetrated the cab car through the collision ; post. ; The improvements made for the SOA end frame structure ; include more substantial corner and collision posts, robust post ; connections to the buffer beam and anti-telescoping (AT) beam, ; and corner and collision posts integrated with a shelf and ; bulkhead sheet. Full length side sills improved support for the ; end frame. This test focused on one collision post because of its ; critical position in protecting the operator and passengers in an ; impact with an object at a grade-crossing. ; For the test, a 14,000-lb cart impacted a standing cab car at ; a speed of 18.7 mph. The cart had a rigid coil shape mounted ; on the leading end that concentrated the impact load on the ; collision post. The requirements for protecting the operator's ; space state that there will be no more than 10 inches of ; longitudinal crush and none of the attachments of any of the ; structural members separate. ; During the test, the collision post deformed approximately ; 7.4 inches and absorbed approximately 138,000 ft-lb of energy. ; The attachment between the post and the AT beam remained ; intact. The connection between the post and the buffer beam ; did not completely separate, however the forward flange and ; both side webs fractured. The post itself did not completely ; fail. There was material failure in the back and the sides of the ; post at the impact location. Overall, the end frame was ; successful in absorbing energy and preserving space for the ; operators and the passengers.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9498/dot_9498_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 908.48 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7897b77b246b07a2dec3ed5b787768f72b33d4fbc0015cccdfc1111fbaba2a8b21723a18bf42b9fea28d10936b82cdd109561f801a6ff1bd31a1df342f6ab0f4