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Volpe Center Highlights - April 2000FocusDirector's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment | 
Full-Scale Two-Railcar Crash Test Emphasizes Passenger Safety (FRA) On April 4, 2000, DOT Secretary Rodney E. Slater addressed an audience of industry professionals attending a full-scale crash test of two coupled commuter railcars at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. Mr. Steven Ditmeyer, Director of the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Office of Research and Development, which funded the test, delivered the welcoming address and introduced several speakers. Ms. Kristine Severson of the Volpe Center's Structures and Dynamics Division gave a presentation highlighting the results of the full-scale single car test that was conducted on November 16, 1999. That test involved a single car traveling at 35 mph and colliding with a rigid concrete wall. The concrete wall provides a consistent means for validating predictive models. Ms. Severson's presentation also gave an overview of the results of recent computer simulations of the full-scale two-car collision test.
The two-car crash test on April 4 used two coupled Pioneer Cars, also known as SEPTA Silverliners, that were built by Budd Co. The railcars traveled at 26 mph and collided head on with a concrete wall. Ms. Severson and Mr. David Tyrell also of the Division assisted in directing and conducting the crash test. The Silverliners, which are built to a 1957 design and are the type of railcars in service today, were instrumented with strain gauges and accelerometers. In addition, various passenger seat designs were used to test the effectiveness of passenger protection on crash test dummies. All original interior seats were removed and several M-Style commuter seats manufactured by Coach and Car Equipment Co. were installed for both forward- and rear-facing unrestrained occupant tests. Two pairs of traditional Amtrak intercity seats, one modified to accept lap and shoulder belts, also were tested. Instrumented dummies were used to measure the injury hazard conditions to passengers inside the railcars. The dummies used were standard Hybrid II and Hybrid III dummies that also are used by the airline and automotive industries. In all, more than 200 channels of data regarding displacements, accelerations, and strains were collected. High-speed video cameras were installed to record the dynamic response of the seats and dummies.
Preliminary visual analysis of the crash test results indicates that both unrestrained and restrained dummies remained compartmentalized between the rows of seats during the crash, although the restrained dummies experienced less movement. Recently, the television news magazine, NBC Dateline, aired a segment that included the results of the single-car test as part of a larger story on rail vehicle crashworthiness. In the single-car test, some of the seats failed and were detached from their pedestals causing the dummies to fly over the seats. Because of the lower speed of the two-car test and associated forces, all of the seats in the two-car test remained attached. Injury data for the two-car crash test has not yet been analyzed. The FRA's Office of Research and Development assembled and supervised the technical team that performed the test. The members of this team included the Volpe Center which provided test requirements and analytical support, and will coordinate the final report; the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. which installed the crash wall, instrumented the railcars, and coordinated and performed the crash test; and Simula Technologies, Inc. which installed the passenger seats and instrumented test dummies to study the responses of the test dummies and crashworthiness of interior equipment. In addition, Amtrak provided two seat pairs; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided several test dummies; the Federal Aviation Administration provided some of the load cell instrumentation; the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) provided the cars; Bombardier provided engineering drawings of the cars; and the American Public Transportation Association provided technical advice.
This series of crash tests is a response to comprehensive standards issued by the FRA on May 12, 1999, to improve the safety of America's railroad passenger equipment. The final rule, Passenger Equipment Safety Standards, marks the first time that the United States has issued comprehensive safety standards for rail passenger equipment. The rule establishes standards for crashworthiness, fire safety, emergency systems, power brake and mechanical inspections, safety planning, and high-speed equipment. When developing this rule, the FRA acknowledged that many technical issues related to occupant protection had to be determined through computer simulations and a review of actual collision scenarios because of a lack of engineering data. The Volpe Center is performing those simulations. The collision tests are being conducted in order to validate and improve the computer simulations which then will be used to simulate a wider range of collision conditions. Future collision tests using modified railcars will measure the effectiveness of improved crashworthiness of cab car and coach car structural designs, and improved occupant protection strategies. The testing of conventional and modified railcars will be used to improve the FRA's safety regulations resulting in safer passenger trains. |
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