Development of Crashworthiness for Railway Vehicle Structures

Abstract

British Rail Research has been progressing the development of crashworthiness in rail vehicles over a number of years. Initial work entailed the development of a structural design philosophy which advocated progressive and controlled energy absorption in accidents, the investigation of theoretical methods for analysing large plastic deformations and the static crush testing of vehicle ends. In parallel, a programme of work was set up within the International Union of Railways which resulted in an instrumented collision between vehicles whose cabs had been designed to absorb energy in a predictable way. The lessons gained from these developments are being applied to the investigation of particular accidents and to the production of improved specifications for future BR vehicles.