United States Department of Transportation
i
Fuel tank integrity research : fuel tank analyses and test plans
-
2013-04-15
-
[PDF-2.32 MB]
Details:
-
Alternative Title:Proceedings of the 2013 ASME/IEEE/ASCE Joint Rail Conference, April 15-18, 2013, Knoxsville, TN
-
Creators:
-
Corporate Creators:
-
Corporate Contributors:
-
Subject/TRT Terms:
-
Publication/ Report Number:
-
Resource Type:
-
Geographical Coverage:
-
Corporate Publisher:
-
NTL Classification:NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail Safety;NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATION;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Vehicle Design;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITY;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail Safety;
-
Abstract:The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Research
and Development is conducting research into fuel tank
crashworthiness. Fuel tank research is being performed to
determine strategies for increasing the fuel tank impact
resistance to mitigate the threat of a post-collision or postderailment
fire. In accidents, fuel tanks are subjected to
dynamic loading, often including a blunt or raking impact from
various components of the rolling stock or trackbed. Current
design practice requires that fuel tanks have minimum
properties adequate to sustain a prescribed set of static load
conditions. Current research is intended to increase
understanding of the impact response of fuel tanks under
dynamic loading. Utilizing an approach that has been effective
in increasing the structural crashworthiness of railcars,
improved strategies can be developed that will address the
types of loading conditions which have been observed to occur
in a collision or derailment event.
U.S. rail accident surveys reveal the types of threats fuel
tanks are exposed to during collisions, derailments and other
events. These include blunt impacts and raking impacts to any
exposed side of the tank. This research focuses on evaluating
dynamic impact conditions for fuel tanks and investigating how
fuel tank design features affect the collision performance of the
tank. Research activities will include analytical modeling of
fuel tanks under dynamic loading conditions, dynamic impact
testing of fuel tank articles, and recommendations for improved
fuel tank protection strategies.
This paper describes detailed finite element analyses that
have been developed to estimate the behavior of three different
fuel tanks under a blunt impact. These analyses are being used
to understand the deformation behavior of different tanks and
prepare for planned testing of two of these tanks. Observations
are made on the influence of stiffeners, baffles, and other
design details relative to the distance from impact.
This paper subsequently describes the preliminary test
plans for the first set of tests on conventional passenger
locomotive fuel tanks. The first set of tests is designed to
measure the deformation behavior of the fuel tanks with a blunt
impact of the bottom face of the tanks. The test articles are fuel
tanks from two retired EMD F-40 locomotives. A blunt impact
will be conducted by securing the test articles to a crash wall
and impacting them with an indenter extending from a test cart.
This set of tests is targeted for late summer 2013 at the
Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado.
Both blunt and raking impact conditions will be evaluated
in future research. Tests are also being planned for DMU fuel
tanks under dynamic loads.
-
Format:
-
Collection(s):
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
