Crippling test of Budd M--1 passenger railcar : test and analysis results

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Proceedings of the 2014 Joint Rail Conference, April 2-4, 2014, Colorado Springs, CO.
• Creators:
  Carolan, Michael ; Perlman, Benjamin ; Jeong, David ; Gordon, Jeff
• 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:
  • Passenger cars
  • Railroad cars
  • Train crews
  • Passengers
  • Finite element method
  • Structural analysis
  • Load tests
  • Buckling
  • Railroad safety Occupied volume integrity
  • Crash energy management
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  JRC2014-3824
• Resource Type:
  In Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  Colorado
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ; American Society of Civil Engineers
• 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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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12042/dot_12042_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.43 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f7b76b898fc4d743dd7b28e2223a9eeb778b91bddf9ca7365bc33a1dc45a68bf61b322a116d1fe428b6d4824a1059a0b14c161df7d77efc340242bbf23750a07