Vehicle track interaction safety standards

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Proceedings of the Joint Rail Conference, April 2-4, 2014, Colorado Springs, CO.
• Creators:
  Marquis, Brian ; LeBlanc, Jon ; Tajaddini, Ali
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Railroad tracks
  • Standards
  • Safety
  • Railroad safety
  • Vehicle dynamics
  • Train track dynamics
  • Rolling contact
  • Suspension systems
  • Track geometry
  • Safety standards
• Publication/ Report Number:
  JRC2014-3872
• Resource Type:
  In Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ; American Society of Civil Engineers
• Abstract:
  Vehicle/Track Interaction (VTI) Safety Standards aim to ; reduce the risk of derailments and other accidents attributable ; to the dynamic interaction between moving vehicles and the ; track over which they operate. On March 13, 2013, the Federal ; Railroad Administration (FRA) published a final rule titled ; “Vehicle/Track Interaction Safety Standards; High-Speed and ; High Cant Deficiency Operations” which amended the Track ; Safety Standards (49 CFR Part213) and the Passenger ; Equipment Safety Standards (49 CFR Part 238) in order to ; promote VTI safety under a variety of conditions at speeds up ; to 220 mph. Among its main accomplishments, the final rule ; revises standards for track geometry and enhances qualification ; procedures for demonstrating vehicle trackworthiness to take ; advantage of computer modeling. ; The Track Safety Standards provide safety limits for ; maximum allowable track geometry variations for all nine FRA ; Track Classes — i.e., safety “minimums.” These limits serve to ; identify conditions that require immediate attention because ; they may pose or create a potential safety hazard. While these ; conditions are generally infrequent, they define the worst ; conditions that can exist before a vehicle is required to slow ; down. To promote the safe interaction of rail vehicles with the ; track over which they operate (i.e. wheels stay on track, and ; vehicle dynamics do not overload the track structure, vehicle ; itself, or cause injury to passengers), these conditions must be ; considered in the design of suspension systems. In particular, ; rail vehicle suspensions must be designed to control the ; dynamic response such that wheel/rail forces and vehicle ; accelerations remain within prescribed thresholds (VTI safety ; limits) when traversing these more demanding track geometry ; conditions at all allowable speeds associated with at particular ; track class. ; To help understand the differences in performance ; requirements (design constraints) being placed on the design of ; passenger equipment suspensions throughout the world, ; comparisons have been made between FRA safety standards ; and similar standards used internationally (Europe, Japan, and ; China) in terms of both allowable track geometry deviations ; and the criteria that define acceptable vehicle performance ; (VTI safety limits). While the various factors that have ; influenced the development of each of the standards are not ; readily available or fully understood at this time (e.g., ; economic considerations, provide safety for unique operating ; conditions, promote interoperability by providing a railway ; infrastructure that supports a wide variety of rail vehicle types, ; etc.), this comparative study helps to explain in part why, in ; certain circumstances, equipment that has been designed for ; operation in other parts of the world has performed poorly, and ; in some cases had derailment problems when imported to the ; U.S. Furthermore, for specific equipment that is not ; specifically designed for operation in the U.S., it helps to ; identify areas that may need to be addressed with other ; appropriate action(s) to mitigate potential safety concerns, such ; as by ensuring that the track over which the equipment is ; operating is maintained to standards appropriate for the specific ; equipment type, or by placing operational restrictions on the ; equipment, or both. ; In addition to these comparisons, an overview of the new ; FRA qualification procedures which are used for demonstrating ; vehicle trackworthiness is provided in this paper. These ; procedures, which include use of simulations to demonstrate ; dynamic performance, are intended to give guidance to vehicle ; designers and provide a more comprehensive tool for safety ; assessment and verification of the suitability of a particular
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12040/dot_12040_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.89 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c6e5cfe3f8c622509c68c7317754b585935d0e3b0b30ade8fbc3a10019c801e0