Collision tests and model development of a train coupling system using a high-capacity energy absorber

Abstract

This study aims to provide a process for the development of a train collision model that can evaluate the performance of buffers in the coupling system of railway vehicles. The model development process is completed by testing the buffer systems, analyzing the test results, and generating empirical models based on the analyzed results. In the analysis, it is shown that the behavior of the rubber buffer and the high-capacity buffer is well reproduced by the empirical models. A simulation model developed from the process is not only able to produce response behaviors of the buffers that are close to the test results, but is also able to estimate the maximum energy within a 2% error for the rubber buffer and a 4% error for the high-capacity buffer. The validated model can be used in extended systems – when multiple trains are connected through buffer systems – to evaluate the applied force or the absorbed energy on buffer systems, to optimize the configuration of the coupling systems or to evaluate the performance of the buffers under different collision conditions.