Authors: David Tyrell, Kristine Severson, A. Benjamin Perlman

Date of Publication:  March 2000

Sponsoring Agency:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Research and Development

Performing Organization:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Report No:  DOT/FRA/ORD-00/02.1

Abstract:

On November 16, 1999, at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado, a test was conducted of a single rail passenger car colliding with a fixed wall at 35 mph. The car was instrumented to measure (1) the deformations of critical structural elements, (2) the vertical, lateral, and longitudinal deceleration of the carbody and trucks, and (3) displacements of suspension systems. The car was equipped with anthropomorphic test devices (test dummies) in three interior arrangements:
 

• Forward-facing unrestrained occupants seated in rows, compartmentalized by the forward seat in order to limit the motions of the occupants.
• Forward-facing restrained occupants with lap and shoulder belts.
• Rear-facing unrestrained occupants.

The purpose of the test was to validate and calibrate computer models for analyzing crashworthiness of rail passenger vehicles.

Prior to the test, computer models were used to simulate the car’s response during the test, and to develop the information required to determine the placement and type of instrumentation, as well as bounding the range of the interior decelerations likely to be experienced by the test dummies. Qualitatively, the results of the test and pre-test analyses are in reasonable agreement.

Quantitatively, the results are in reasonable agreement for many of the key measures of the response of the equipment.
 

No. of Pages:   34