Rail Vehicle Cab Car Collision and Corner Post Designs According to APTA S-034 Requirements

The American Public Transportation Association standard for rail passenger equipment, S-034, includes requirements for the collision and corner posts of cab cars that are consistent with new federal requirements and substantially different than what has been required in the past. This paper describes the development and evaluation of two cab car end frame designs that were generated to investigate the implications on crashworthiness and operations of the new standards. A review was undertaken of prior cab car crashworthiness research and of existing and planned cab car designs for North American operation. The two designs were then generated and both hand and finite element analysis, including analysis for large deformations, was conducted to demonstrate that the designs meet the requirements. Of particular interest is the issue of providing large deformation capacity of the posts and the implications of eliminating the stairwell to meet the strength requirements.