Passenger Rail Two-Car Impact Test. Volume II: Summary of Occupant Protection Program
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2002-01-01
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Alternative Title:Rail passenger equipment collision tests
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Abstract:Two full-scale impact tests of rail cars fitted with seat/occupant experiments were conducted at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center located in Pueblo, Colorado. The first test was conducted on November 16, 1999, with a single rail car that was impacted against a rigid barrier at 35.1 mph (56.5 km/h). The second test, conducted on April 4, 2000, involved two rail cars coupled together impacting a rigid barrier at 26 mph (41.8 km/h). The objective of the interior tests was to determine the corresponding level of occupant safety for the impact scenarios. The cars were equipped with anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs). The following three experiments were in the lead car: (1) forward-facing unrestrained occupants seated in rows, compartmentalized by the forward seat in order to limit the motions of the occupants; (2) forward-facing restrained occupants with lap and shoulder belts; and (3) rear-facing unrestrained occupants. The trailing car had one experiment similar to the first one in the lead car: forward-facing unrestrained occupants seated in rows, compartmentalized by the forward seat in order to limit the motions of the occupants. All the seats remained attached during the test, and all the unrestrained test dummies were compartmentalized. The connection between the seat back and seat pan for the seat with seatbelts was strengthened over the seat tested in the single car test, which helped compartmentalize the unrestrained dummies initially seated behind the seat with seatbelts. The principal goal of the Occupant Protection Tests for Full-Scale Passenger Rail Impacts program was to obtain scientific evidence and data that defines a realistic rail car crash pulse, the rail car’s structural response, and a corresponding level of occupant safety.
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