As part of the Federal Railroad Administration's Equipment Safety Research Program, a series of full-scale impact tests are being conducted on rail passenger vehicles. Three tests are intended to define the performance of current-design equipment in in-line collisions: (1) A single car impact with a fixed wall; (2) A two coupled car impact with a fixed wall, and (3) A moving cab car led train impact with a standing locomotive-led train. These tests are designed to first measure the crashworthiness of a single car, then the interactions of two cars when coupled, and finally the behavior of a complete train, including the interactions of the colliding cars. As part of these tests, interior configurations with forward facing unrestrained, forward facing restrained, and rear facing unrestrained test dummies are being used to measure potential occupant dynamics during a train collision. The first two tests have already been conducted. The third test is planned for the fall of 2001. Similar tests are currently being planned for crash energy management equipment. The crash energy management equipment is expected to perform significantly better in these tests than the conventional equipment. While the principal objective of these tests is to determine effective strategies for improved structural crashworthiness and improved occupant protection, a secondary objective is to validate and improve the computer models that have been developed as part of the rail vehicle crashworthiness research. Results from the tests conducted to date show that the force reaches a high initial peak, and then decreases as the car crushes.
Overview of Passenger Equipment Fullscale Impact Tests: Results to Date
2001
14 pages
Report
No indication
English
Laboratory tests and their correlation with fullscale road experiments
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