United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of Occupant Volume Strength in Conventional Passenger Railroad Equipment
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2008-09-24
[PDF-291.29 KB]
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Abstract:To ensure a level of occupant volume protection, passenger
railway equipment operating on mainline railroads in the
United States must be designed to resist an 800,000-lb
compressive load applied statically along the line of draft. An
alternative manner of evaluating the strength of the occupied
volume is sought, which will ensure the same level of
protection for occupants of the equipment as the current test,
but will allow for a greater variety of equipment to be
evaluated.
A finite element (FE) model of the structural components
of a railcar has been applied to examine the existing
compressive strength test and evaluate selected alternate testing
scenarios. Using simplified geometric and material properties,
a generic single-level railcar model was constructed that
captured the gross behaviors of the railcar without excessive
processing time.
When loaded, the carbody structure exhibits some single
beam-like behaviors. Application of the existing 800 kip
compressive load results in a significant bending moment as
well as significant compressive forces. The alternative load
cases examined show that a larger total compressive force may
be distributed across the end structure of the railcar and result
in similar stress levels throughout the structural frame as
observed from application of the conventional proof load.
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