1. Home
  2. TRID
  3. View Record
https://trb-annual-meeting.nationalacademies.org/registration

REPORT ON COMPUTER DERAILMENT STUDY. PHASE 08 REPORT

Train accidents involving cars carrying hazardous materials have been the cause of substantial losses in recent years. This is a source of great concern to carriers, owners, and government agencies. When a derailment takes place, little is known of the phenomenon of car behavior immediately thereafter. All that is known are the end results. Inasmuch as car derailments cannot be practically duplicated in the laboratory, an analytical approach is the obvious method to use in obtaining data on derailment behavior. The objective of this study is to set forth a mathematical model to find the motions, forces and accelerations experienced by the derailed cars at each instant of time in the train derailment. The information obtained can offer a promising path to evaluate car design and train makeup as related to derailment losses. In this theoretical analysis of the derailment, the equations of motion for each derailed car are derived in general in the horizontal plane. These are then coupled with a system of constraint equations and the equation of motion for the non-derailed cars. The equations are then solved numerically (by digital computer) in their non-linear forms with the first car derailed as the sole initially assumed conditions; the ground friction, mating coupler moment and brake retarding forces are in action accordingly. A total of twenty-six (26) simulations were run to show the influence of variables on derailment behavior over a range of feasible train design parameters.

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; Tables;
  • Pagination: 72 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00080298
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Association of American Railroads
  • Report/Paper Numbers: R-135
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jan 29 1976 12:00AM