Research work in the field of passive safety of railway vehicles in Serbia

Abstract

Joint Stock Company for Passenger Railway Transport “Srbija Voz“ and for Freight Railway Transport “Serbia Cargo” has a different types of passenger wagons, freight wagons, electric-multiple units (EMU) and dieselmultiple unit (DMU) as well as locomotives that are not equipped with passive safety elements. With the aim to increase safety of these railway vehicles, with respect of requests defined by valid standards EN15227 and EN12663 directed to the modern concept of the bearing structure, intensive research work in the field of passive safety on different types of absorption elements was realized. Experimental and numerical investigations were realized on the following types of energy absorbers: tubes of square cross section which use folding process for energy absorption, circular seamless steel tubes which use expanding and shrinking deformation process as a ways for energy absorption, combination of two deformation processes at the same time (shrinking-folding and shrinking-splitting) and shrinking circular steel tube filled by rigid polyurethane foam. Experimental investigations were performed in a laboratory conditions as well as in the real environment by collision of two passenger coaches. Numerical models were formed for mentioned types of absorber by using ANSYS software package and validations of them were done by experimental results. Developed numerical models were used for additional analyses of the impact of main parameters to absorption characteristics, as well as for dimensioning of absorption elements. As results of investigations shown that the shrinking circular tube absorber has most acceptable absorption characteristics, the one of possible mounting way of this type of absorber in the bearing structure of passenger wagon was suggested.