Simulation of Energy Absorption Performance of the Couplers in Urban Railway Vehicles during a Heavy Collision

Railway vehicles are generally operated by connecting several vehicles in a row. Mechanisms connecting railway vehicles must also absorb front and rear shock loads that occur during a train’s operation. To minimize damage, rail car couplers are equipped with a buffer system that absorbs the impact of energy. It is difficult to perform a crash test and evaluate performance by applying a buffer to an actual railway vehicle. In this study, a simulation technique using a mathematical buffer model was introduced to overcome these difficulties. For this, a model of each element of the buffer was built based on the experimental data for each element of the coupling buffer system and a collision simulation program was developed. The buffering characteristics of a 10-car train colliding at 25 km/h were analyzed using a developed simulator. The results of the heavy collision simulation showed that the rubber buffer was directly connected to the hydraulic shock absorber in a solid contact state, and displacement of the hydraulic buffer hardly occurred despite the increase in reaction force due to the high impact speed. Since the impact force is concentrated on the vehicle to which the collision is applied, it may be appropriate to apply a deformation tube with different characteristics depending on the vehicle location.

Gondola car designs 1937–1941 and their modernization

The authors of the article continue to publish materials on the development and design of gondola structures at the Ural car building plant. The article is devoted to the development of a gondola car by the Ural design Bureau in 1937 and its subsequent modernization. The design elements of the gondola car that differ from the previous model are considered: size, trolley, automatic coupling and brakes, manhole cover, parameters of the gondola car, etc. The results of the work of the Interdepartmental Commission are presented. A new design is considered: coupling buffer beam and the connection of the beams with the lower belt, the constituent elements of the cross section of a center girder and corner posts, etc.