FY2008 Capital Assistance to States - Third Track Construction and Interlocking Reconfiguration Preliminary Engineering (VA)

FY2008 Capital Assistance to States - One-Mile Rail Replacement and 4 Bridge Redeckings, Vermonter Route

FY2008 Capital Assistance to States - Two-Mile Track Reconstruction, Ethan Allen Route

Modeling the Effect of Fluid-Structure Interaction on the Impact Dynamics of Pressurized Tank cars

This paper presents a computational framework that analyzes the effect of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) on the impact dynamics of pressurized commodity tank cars using the nonlinear dynamic finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit. There exist three distinct phases for a tank car loaded with a...

Probabilistic Approach to Conditional Probability of Release of Hazardous Materials from Railroad Tank Cards During Accidents

This paper describes a probabilistic approach to estimate the conditional probability of release of hazardous materials from railroad tank cars during train accidents. Monte Carlo methods are used in developing a probabilistic model to simulate head impacts. The model is based on the physics of...

Analysis of Impact Energy to Fracture Unnotched Charpy Specimens Made From Railroad Tank Car Steel

This paper describes a nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) framework that examines the impact energy to fracture unnotched Charpy specimens by an oversized, nonstandard pendulum impactor called the Bulk Fracture Charpy Machine (BFCM). The specimens are made from railroad tank car steel, have...

Developing Strategies for Maintaining Tank Car Integrity During Train Accidents

Accidents that lead to rupture of tank cars carrying hazardous materials can cause serious public safety hazards and substantial economic losses. The desirability of improved tank car designs that are better equipped to keep the commodity contained during impacts is clear. This paper describes a...

Improved Tank Car Safety Research

Three recent accidents involving the release of hazardous material have focused attention on the structural integrity of railroad tank cars: (1) Minot, ND, on January 18, 2002; (2) Macdona, TX, on June 28, 2004; and (3) Graniteville, SC, on January 6, 2005. Each of these accidents resulted in...

Analyses of Full-Scale Tank Car Shell Impact Tests

This paper describes analyses of a railroad tank car impacted at its side by a ram car with a rigid punch. This generalized collision, referred to as a shell impact, is examined using nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) and threedimensional (3-D) collision dynamics modeling. Moreover, the...

Equations of Motion for Train Derailment Dynamics

This paper describes a planar or two-dimensional model to examine the gross motions of rail cars in a generalized train derailment. Three coupled, second-order differential equations are derived from Newton’s Laws to calculate rigid-body car motions with time. Car motions are defined with...