Overview of a Crash Energy Management Specification for Passenger Rail Equipment

Details

• Creators:
  Jeong, David ; Martinez, Eloy ; Severson, Kristine ; Jacobsen, Karina ; Parent, Daniel ; Priante, Michelle ; Perlman, A. Benjamin
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; Tufts University
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Crashworthiness
  • Impact tests
  • Collisions
  • Finite element method
  • Structural analysis
  • Specifications
  • Passenger cars
  • Commuter cars
  • Couplers
• Publication/ Report Number:
  JRC2006-94044
• Resource Type:
  Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Abstract:
  At the request of METROLINK, the Federal Railroad ; Administration (FRA), with the Federal Transit Administration and the ; American Public Transportation Association, formed the ad hoc Crash ; Energy Management Working Group in May 2005. This group ; developed recommendations for crush zones in passenger rail cars for ; METROLINK to include in its procurement specification. The Volpe ; Center provided the Working Group with technical information from ; the research on passenger rail equipment crashworthiness it is ; conducting for FRA. METROLINK released its specification, ; including the recommendations from the Working Group, on ; September 16, 2005, as part of an invitation for bid. ; The specification includes three levels of requirements: train, ; car, and mechanism. The train level requirements specify a collision ; scenario for which there must be no intrusion into the occupied areas ; and limits on the relative velocities at which the operator and ; passenger may impact interior surfaces. The car and mechanism level ; requirements follow from the train level requirements. The car level ; requirements include specifications for a cab end crush zone capable ; of absorbing 3.0 million ft-lbs of energy and a non-cab end crush zone ; capable of absorbing 2.0 million ft-lbs. There are also specifications ; on the crush zone kinematics and on the target force/crush ; characteristics. Mechanism level requirements include specifications ; for the coupling mechanism, the load transfer mechanism, and the ; principal energy absorption mechanism. The coupling mechanism ; permits the coupler to push back, allowing the ends of adjacent cars to ; remain aligned and come together during an impact. The load transfer ; mechanism transmits the load from the adjacent equipment into the ; crush zone in a manner that allows the principal energy absorption ; mechanism to function as intended. The cab end load transfer ; mechanism can include a deformable LD that acts similarly to an ; automobile bumper, and resolves eccentric impact loads into loads that ; can be appropriately reacted by the supporting structure. The ; principal energy absorption mechanism is the section of the carbody ; structure intended to deform gracefully and to provide most of the ; required energy absorption. ; The specification prescribes performance for the train, the cab ; and trailer cars, and the mechanisms. Each requirement includes ; quantitative criteria for evaluation of compliance. The Working Group ; extensively discussed various evaluation methodologies, including ; non-linear large deformation finite element analysis and dynamic ; component tests, and worked to assure that practical evaluation ; methodologies are available for each requirement. For components ; critical to the functioning of the crush zone, tests are required. This ; paper describes the requirements, the associated criteria, and the ; available evaluation techniques. The technical bases driving the need ; for each of the requirements are discussed.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9509/dot_9509_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.99 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c8347597096d7d90b16da5b6ad42cf74a9b07fa349fc2eb33c44ab392c213fa0894650a87be40156efa822a55fde812e3fa9c3390c893c9f9cacf27666122563