| Title | Locomotive cab occupant protection |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 47499 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Zolock, John; Tyrell, David C. |
| Source | 8p. in various pagings; Proceedings of the 2003 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, November 16-21, 2003 |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development |
| Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| Publication Date | 20031115 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The effectiveness of fitting a locomotive cab with a passive inflatable restraint system utilizing inflatable structures, and interior padding to protect the operator has been evaluated for the in-line collision scenario. It is a challenge to design a system that increases protection for the locomotive operator within the cab during accidents, while allowing that operator to react to a specific situation by choosing either to leave or remain in the seat or cab. Numerous strategies have been proposed to increase locomotive cab occupant protection; however, most of these proposals have either required an active response from the cab occupants, e.g., getting into a refuge, or inhibited the potential for fleeing the cab, e.g., seatbelts. In this study, the occupant protection of a typical locomotive cab interior with a vertical console-stand style control is compared with the occupant protection of an interior modified with the addition of two tube-shaped inflatable structures for secondary impact injury mitigation. The crashworthiness performances of these two interior arrangements are compared for in-line train-to-train collision scenarios that approximate a locomotive-led train collision with another locomotive or cab car-led train. The analysis uses, as a basis, accident data and information on the crashworthiness performance of the locomotive interior in a train-to-train collision between a standing locomotive-led consist and a moving cab car-led consist conducted on January 31, 2002 at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. An analysis model is developed and validated using the full-scale train-to-train test locomotive interior/occupant experiment. The interior/occupant model then serves as a means of interpolating to different crash pulses, and with the alternative protection method using inflatable tube-like structures and interior padding. A range of locomotive operator sizes is investigated, as well as a range of selected initial seating positions for the locomotive operator. |
| Rosap ID | dot:9889 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9889 |
| TRT Terms | Locomotives; Vehicle cabs; Crashes; Crashworthiness; Impact tests; Crash injury research; Crash victim simulation; Occupant protection devices; Vehicle padding; Inflatable structures; Countermeasures |
| General Subjects | Occupant protection; Crash energy management |
| Classification | NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Safety; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Vehicle Design |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| Report Number | IMECE2003-44121 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Proceedings |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/47000/47400/47499/rail_cw_2003_9.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |