LIMITING PERFORMANCE OF SHOCK ABSORBERS IN FREIGHT CARS

The problem of determining the limiting performance of a freight car shock absorber (cushion) in protecting ladings under crash considitions is considered. This work differs from the usual approach in that rather than analyzing (optimizing) a specific absorber configuration, e.g., prescribed set of springs and dashpots, the absolute optimum absorber behavior is computed regardless of configuration. For the problem treated in detail here, performance is measured in terms of peak force transmitted to the lading for a specified bound on cushion travel distance. The limiting performance problem is formulated as a linear programming problem. Numerical examples are included.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contributed by the Rail Transportation Division of ASME for presentation at the IEEE-ASME Joint Railroad Conference, St. Louis, Mo., April 11-12, 1973.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • PILKEY, W
  • Wang, B P
• Publication Date: 1973-1-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 4 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cushioning materials; Freight cars
• Old TRIS Terms: Hydraulic cushioning; Lading protection
• Subject Areas: Materials; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00044276
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper 73-RT-3
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 15 1974 12:00AM