Research of a Tram Headstock from Composite
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Research of a Tram Headstock from Composite Zdenek Malkovsky & Hedvika Kovandova Received: 18 September 2013 / Accepted: 19 September 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract The requirements for crashworthiness of railway vehicles are defined by the Railroad crashworthiness standard EN 15227. This standard is based on the findings of the characteristics of steel structures of front parts of railway vehicles. In the Czech Republic an extensive research was carried out within the project TIP FR-TI1/113 on application of composite sandwich structure elements in the design of the front cabins of a railway vehicle. The aim of the research work was to determine real possibilities of the composite sandwich structures for use in the construction of railway vehicles while considering the validity of the above-mentioned standard. Keywords Railway vehicles . Crashworthiness . Composite sandwich structure . Experiment . Tram headstock
1 Introduction The general desire for all vehicles is to reduce their weight. This also applies to railway vehicles. Currently, in construction of the front parts of railway vehicles mainly metal materials are used (steel, aluminum). Various attempts have been made on the use of unconventional materials also in these parts of railway vehicles. Yet, these elements have not been extended into serial production. One of the reasons that influence this fact is the validity of the European technical standards and guidelines for interoperability. They prescribe very strict requirements for the crashworthiness of the front parts of railway vehicles. The research was conducted in three stages. First, the material properties were examined. Second, computer simulations were performed, and third, validation experiments were carried out.
2 Determination of Material Properties The impact of a railway vehicle to an obstacle means a very fast process. Standard material properties obtained from a conventional tensile test are usually not applicable anymore. The dependence of the yield strength on speed shows a diagram in the Fig. 1 [1]. Z. Malkovsky VÚKV a.s., Bucharova 1314/8, 158 00 Prague 5, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] H. Kovandova (*) Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Department of Security Technologies and Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Konviktska 20, Prague 1, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected]
Appl Compos Mater Fig. 1 Dependence of the yield strength on loading speed
Therefore, it was necessary to carry out an extensive material research for the composite material used on the front part of a tram. The examined composite consisted of two skins of thickness 6 mm and the foam of thickness 29 mm. The skin structure was composed of gelcoat, three mats, six biaxial fabric and resin. After analyzing the possible ways to determine material properties of the composite, a combined method was selected. It combines experimental and computational procedures [2]. As part of experimental measurements modal tests were the first to be carried out on whole
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