Improved crashworthiness of rail passenger equipment in the United States

Details

• Alternative Title:
  World congress on railway research
• Creators:
  Tyrell, D. ; Tsai, T.
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Accident Victims Collisions Commuter Cars Crash Energy Management Crash Injury Research Crash Test Dummies Crash Tests Crash Victim Simulation Crashworthiness Dummies Full-scale Impact Tests Occupant Protection Devices Passenger Cars Railroad Cars Seats Vehicle Compartment Components

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• Resource Type:
  Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Abstract:
  The Federal Railroad Administration has been conducting research to develop strategies for improved passenger
  
  protection in train accidents. Crash energy management (CEM) has been developed as a strategy for structural
  
  crashworthiness. Interior strategies that have been developed to work in concert with CEM include improved
  
  workstation tables and optimized commuter seats. The purpose of this research is to develop the technical
  
  information required for passenger equipment specifications, standards, and regulations. Research results are being
  
  applied by METROLINK commuter railroad in their current efforts to procure new equipment. The American
  
  Public Transportation Association is planning to develop industry standards from these research results.
  
  Alternative strategies for structural crashworthiness and occupant protection are first evaluated for potential
  
  effectiveness. For strategies that appear promising, designs are developed; test articles are built and then tested. The
  
  effectiveness studies define the crashworthiness design requirements; the design studies show what is feasible. The
  
  design studies result in drawings, which are used to build test articles. The construction of test articles requires that
  
  the designs be sound. The tests confirm the design performance; the test conditions are derived from the
  
  effectiveness studies; and the test results are used to refine the effectiveness studies. This research methodology
  
  results in the information required to develop specifications, standards, and regulations.
  
  For some collision conditions, CEM equipment can protect all of the occupants for closing speeds that are more than
  
  twice the speed for conventional equipment. Preserving the space for the occupants does marginally increase the
  
  deceleration of the CEM cab car. For trailing equipment, the decelerations are similar in CEM and conventional
  
  trains. The improved workstation table and optimized commuter passenger seat designs have been developed to
  
  mitigate the marginal increase in deceleration. The research on workstation tables has been carried out
  
  cooperatively with the United Kingdom’s Rail Safety and Standards Board. Crashworthiness can be incrementally
  
  improved by the strategic addition of CEM and occupant protection features.
  
  Full-scale impact tests have been arranged to allow direct comparison of the crashworthiness performance of
  
  conventional and alternative strategies. Single-car and two-car impact tests of conventional and CEM equipment
  
  have been conducted. These tests have shown that CEM can preserve the occupant volume and limit the likelihood
  
  of derailment. In these tests, the conventional equipment lost occupant volume and derailed. In the train-to-train
  
  tests, a cab car led train traveling at 30 mph impacts a standing locomotive led train. In the conventional equipment
  
  test, the space for 48 occupants was eliminated. The CEM equipment test is planned for March 23, 2006. It is
  
  expected that the space for all of the occupants will be preserved and that injury criteria values will remain within
  
  survivable limits. Instrumented test dummies in the cab and first coach cars will be used to confirm these
  
  expectations.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8b455428a1d69e006b20bada643abcff10123fd15842e33ab5db3502cdd58b37
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9848/dot_9848_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 677.36 KB ]