Impact test of a crash-energy management passenger rail car

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Proceedings of the 2004 ASME/IEEE joint rail conference
• Creators:
  Jacobsen, Karina ; Jeong, David ; Perlman, Benjamin
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; Tufts University
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Crashworthiness
  • Impact tests
  • Collisions
  • Energy absorption
  • Passenger cars
  • Commuter cars
  • Passenger compartments
  • Measurement
  • Speed measurement
  • Accelerometers
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  RTD2004-66045
• Resource Type:
  Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Abstract:
  On December 3, 2003, a single-car impact test was ; conducted to assess the crashworthiness performance of a ; modified passenger rail car. A coach car retrofitted with a ; Crash Energy Management (CEM) end structure impacted a ; fixed barrier at approximately 35 mph. This speed is just ; beyond the capabilities of current equipment to protect the ; occupants. The test vehicle was instrumented with ; accelerometers, string potentiometers, and strain gages to ; measure the gross motions of the car body in three dimensions, ; the deformation of specific structural components, and the ; force/crush characteristic of the impacted end of the vehicle. ; The CEM crush zone is characterized by three structural ; components: a pushback coupler, a sliding sill (triggering the ; primary energy absorbers), and roof absorbers. These ; structural mechanisms guide the impact load and consequent ; crush through the end structure in a prescribed sequence. ; Pre-test activities included quasi-static and dynamic ; component testing, development of finite element and collision ; dynamics models and quasi-static strength tests of the end ; frame. These tests helped verify the predicted structural ; deformation of each component, estimate a force-crush curve ; for the crush zone, predict the gross motions of the car body, ; and determine instrumentation and test conditions for the ; impact test. ; During the test, the passenger car sustained approximately ; three feet of crush. In contrast to the test of the conventional ; passenger equipment, the crush imparted on the CEM vehicle ; did not intrude into the passenger compartment. However, as ; anticipated the car experienced higher accelerations than the ; conventional passenger car. ; Overall, the test results for the gross motions of the car are ; in close agreement. The measurements made from both tests ; show that the CEM design has improved crashworthiness ; performance over the conventional design. A two-car test will ; be performed to study the coupled interaction of CEM vehicles ; as well as the occupant environment. The train-to-train test ; results are expected to show that the crush is passed ; sequentially down the interfaces of the cars, consequently ; preserving occupant volume.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9859/dot_9859_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.25 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:915ad43aa149a8b96be585e8d6891a49e43ea760485b752ea3d0555cdb55f8a8f91e13f137ca2d860126706cffd1e53afaeb943913dba00aef720704748477c6