United States Department of Transportation
i
Development of crash energy management designs for existing passenger rail vehicles
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2004-11-13
[PDF-1.57 MB]
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Alternative Title:2004 ASME international mechanical engineering congress
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Abstract:As part of the passenger equipment crashworthiness research,
sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration and supported by
the Volpe Center, passenger coach and cab cars have been tested in inline
collision conditions. The purpose of these tests was to establish
baseline levels of crashworthiness performance for the conventional
equipment and demonstrate the minimum achievable levels of
enhancement using performance based alternatives.
The alternative strategy pursued is the application of the crash
energy management design philosophy. The goal is to provide a
survivable volume where no intrusion occurs so that passengers can
safely ride out the collision or derailment. In addition, lateral buckling
and override modes of deformation are prevented from occurring.
This behavior is contrasted with that observed from both full scale
tests recently conducted and historical accidents where both lateral
buckling and/or override occurs for conventionally designed
equipment.
A prototype crash energy management coach car design has been
developed and successfully tested in two full-scale tests. The design
showed significant improvements over the conventional equipment
similarly tested. The prototype design had to meet several key
requirements including: it had to fit within the same operational
volume of a conventional car, it had to be retrofitted onto a previously
used car, and it had to be able to absorb a prescribed amount of energy
within a maximum allowable crush distance. To achieve the last
requirement, the shape of the force crush characteristic had to have
tiered force plateaus over prescribed crush distances to allow for crush
to be passed back from one crush zone to another. The distribution of
crush along the consist length allows for significantly higher
controlled energy absorption which results in higher safe closing
speeds.
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