United States Department of Transportation
i
Crippling test of Budd M--1 passenger railcar : test and analysis results
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2014-04-02
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[PDF-1.43 MB]
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Alternative Title:Proceedings of the 2014 Joint Rail Conference, April 2-4, 2014, Colorado Springs, CO.
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Abstract:The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of
Research and Development is conducting research into the
occupied volume integrity (OVI) of passenger railcars. OVI
refers to a passenger railcar’s ability to preserve space for
passengers and crew during accident loading conditions. The
information developed in this research program will form the
basis for establishing alternative OVI evaluation procedures.
These alternative procedures, in turn, will allow a wider variety
of passenger railcar designs to have their OVI evaluated, will
provide guidance for applying modern engineering
technologies, such as finite element analysis (FEA), and will
continue to ensure a level of safety in evaluated vehicles
equivalent to conventional evaluation.
As part of this research program, two tests and
corresponding FEA were conducted on a Budd M-1 passenger
railcar that had been retrofitted with crash energy management
(CEM) components on both ends. This testing and analysis
program was sponsored by FRA and carried out by
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), Arup, and the
Volpe Center. An 800,000 pound load test was conducted on
March 13, 2013 and was intended to elastically deform the car.
The data generated during this test were, in turn, used to
validate FE models of the M-1 car. The second test was
performed on July 17, 2013. This test introduced loads into the
occupant volume through its CEM attachment points until the
ultimate, or crippling, load was reached. By loading the
occupant volume through the CEM components, the test load
path is similar to the load path that would be traveled by
collision loads during activation of the CEM system.
This paper presents the results of the crippling test,
discusses the sequence of buckling that was observed to occur
in the test, and compares the results of the test with the results
from FEA of the test conditions. During the crippling test, the
car exhibited a crippling load of 1.1 million pounds. This value
is consistent with crippling loads reached by two Budd Pioneer
cars that were previously tested in an FRA program. The
buckling sequence of the members making up the M-1’s
occupant volume were particularly well-captured by strain
gages during this most recent test. The load path through the
occupant volume and the sequence of progressive buckling of
structural members is discussed. Additionally, the presence of
existing damage and previously-repaired areas and their likely
effects on the crippling behavior of the car are discussed.
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