Three-dimensional override analysis of crashed railway multiple units

Abstract

Override simulations of two train units in frontal collision have been carried out using multi-body dynamics. The aim of this paper is to investigate the possible factors influencing the overriding behaviour throughout frontal collisions. In addition to the initial vertical offset defined in the standard EN 15227, the pitching motion of vehicles has a great effect on the overriding phenomenon. It depends on several factors, such as collision mass, pitching frequency, height of the centre of mass above the rail level. In this paper, it has been shown that the overriding phenomenon is more sensitive to variations in pitching frequency and height of the centre of mass, compared with the factor of the collision mass. Moreover, it has been demonstrated from simulation results that a 200-kN vertical force is required for the combined anti-climber devices (100 kN for each side anti-climber) to constrain the vertical relative motion between crashed train units.