Rail passenger vehicle crashworthiness simulations using multibody dynamics approaches

Multibody dynamics approaches have nowadays been an essential part in examining train crashworthiness. A typical passenger train structure has been investigated on its crashworthiness using three-dimensional (3D) models of a single passenger car and multiple cars formulated using multibody dynamics approaches. The simulation results indicate that the crush length or crush force or both of the crush mechanisms in the high and low energy (HE and LE) crush zones of a passenger train have to be increased for the higher crash speeds. The results on multiple cars (up to ten cars) show that the design of HE and LE crush zones is significantly influenced by the number of cars. The energy absorbed by the HE zone is reasonably consistent for train models with more than four cars at the crash speed of 35 km/h. The comparison of simulations can identify the contribution of the number of cars to the head-on crash forces. The influence of train mass on the design of both HE and LE crush zones, and the influence of design of the crush zones on the wheel-rail contacts are examined. © 2017 by ASME