Rail vehicle design for crashworthiness (1st report, development of carbody structure for high energy absorption and calculation method for crashworthiness)

Abstract

In these days. crashworthiness design has been required more frequently in rail vehicle. The results of static strength test of an end underframe that absorbs most of the crash energy were presented, as well as numerical simulations. By comparing both results. the numerical simulations were found to be adequately accurate. Then, a new and highly crashworthy structure was proposed. Both of the test and the numerical simulation confirmed that the structure worked well to absorb the crash energy. Further, effects of welding strength, geometrical initial imperfection, and strain rate on the crashworthiness were discussed. Especially, strain rate effect of materials is important to evaluate crashworthiness accurately.