| Title | Full-Scale Dynamic Testing of Locomotive Crashworthy Components. |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 56304 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Llana, Patricia; Stringfellow, Richard |
| Source | 81p. in various pagings |
| Corporate Creator | TIAX LLC; John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and Development |
| Publisher | United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and Development |
| Publication Date | 20151000 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The Office of Research, Development, and Technology of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Volpe Center are evaluating new occupant protection technologies to increase the safety of passengers and operators in rail equipment. In view of the importance of override prevention in train-to-train collisions in which one of the vehicles is a locomotive, and the success of crash energy management technologies in cab-car-led passenger trains, the Volpe Center is evaluating the effectiveness of components that could be integrated into the end structure of a locomotive and are designed to mitigate the effects of a collision and, in particular, to prevent override of one lead vehicle onto the other. A research program has developed, fabricated, and tested two crashworthy components for the forward end of a locomotive: (1) a deformable anti-climber, and (2) a push-back coupler. Detailed designs were developed, and their performance was evaluated in large deformation dynamic finite element analysis (FEA). Designs were also developed for two test articles to verify the performance of the component designs in full-scale tests. The two test articles were fabricated and dynamically tested by means of rail car impact to verify their performance characteristics relative to specific requirements. The tests demonstrated the effectiveness of the two design concepts. Test results were consistent with finite element model predictions in terms of energy absorption capability, force-displacement behavior, and modes of deformation. |
| Rosap ID | dot:12239 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12239 |
| TRT Terms | Locomotives; Underride override crashes; Crashes; Injuries; Impacts; Testing; Couplers; Finite element method; Dynamic structural analysis; Mathematical prediction; Crashworthiness; Passenger cars |
| General Subjects | Crash energy management; Push-back couplers; Anti-climbers |
| Classification | AGR - PASSENGERS - PASSENGERS; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Rail Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - SAFETY AND SECURITY; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Vehicle Design |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1580948 |
| Report Number | DOT/FRA/ORD-15/33 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/56000/56300/56304/DynamicTestingLocomotiveCrashworthyComponents.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |