A full-scale, two-car impact test was conducted on April 4, 2000. Two coupled rail passenger cars impacted a fixed barrier at 26 mph. The cars were instrumented with strain gauges, accelerometers, and string potentiometers to measure the deformation of critical structural elements, the longitudinal, vertical, and lateral car body accelerations, and the displacements of the truck suspensions. Instrumented crash-test dummies were also tested in several seat configurations, with and without lap and shoulder belts. The objectives of the two-car test were to measure the gross motions of the car, to measure the force/crush characteristics, to observe the car-to-car interaction, to observe failure modes of the major structural components, and to evaluate selected occupant protection strategies. The measurements taken during the test were used to refine and validate existing computer models of conventional passenger rail vehicles. This test was the second in a series of collision tests designed to characterize the collision behavior of rail vehicles.


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