NTL Record

Title Side impact test and analysis of a DOT-112 tank car.
Record ID 60567
Personal Name
Creator
Rakoczy, Przemyslaw; Carolan, Michael
Source 90p.
Corporate Creator Transportation Technology Center, Inc.; 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; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
Publication Date 20161200
Language English
Abstract As part of a program to improve transportation safety for tank cars, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has conducted a side impact test on a DOT-112 tank car to evaluate the performance of the DOT-112 under dynamic impact conditions and to provide data for the verification and refinement of a computational model of the tank car. The tank car was filled with water to approximately 96 percent of its volume and sealed but not pressurized. The tank car was impacted at 14.7 mph by a 297.125-pound ram car fitted with a 12- by 12-inch ram head. The ram car impacted the tank center, deforming and cracking the external jacket, but the tank’s shell was not punctured. TTCI used pre-test finite element modeling, which was performed by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, to estimate the overall response of the tank to the impact and the force-displacement response. To bring the model’s results into better agreement with the test results, several changes were made to the model. The post-test model matched the overall force-displacement and pressure-time histories better than the pre-test model. The models and tests demonstrate how the fluid response of an impacted tank car dominates the general force-displacement response, which underscores the importance of modeling fluid-structure interactions with appropriate techniques.
Rosap ID dot:12396
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12396
TRT Terms Side crashes; Tank cars; Finite element method; Dynamic models; Puncture resistance; Testing
General Subjects DOT-112 tank car
Geographical
Coverage
Colorado
TRIS Online
Accession No
1620247
Contract Number DTFR53-11-D-00008; Task Order 345; TTCI-11-033
Report Number DOT/FRA/ORD-16/38
Availability Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/60000/60500/60567/Side_Impact_Test_of_DOT_112_Tank_Car.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository