Work is currently underway to develop strategies to protect rail passengers seated at workstation tables during a collision or derailment. Investigations have shown that during a collision, these tables can present a hostile secondary impact environment to the occupants. This effort includes the design, fabrication, and testing of an improved workstation table. The key criteria for the design of this table are that it must compartmentalize the occupants and reduce the risk of injury relative to currently installed tables. Strengthening the attachments between the table and the passenger car body will ensure compartmentalization. Employing energy-absorbing mechanisms to limit and distribute the load imparted on the abdomen of the occupant will reduce injury risk. This paper details the design requirements for an improved workstation table, which include service, fabrication, and occupant protection requirements. Service requirements define the geometry of the table, the performance of the table under normal service loads, and the maintenance of the table over the period of installation. Fabrication requirements define the limitations on material usage and construction costs. Occupant protection requirements define the ability of the table to reduce injury risk to the occupants under collision loads. The table must also conform to federal regulations pertaining to interior structures on passenger rail equipment. Four design concepts are evaluated against these design requirements. These concepts present different modes of deformation or displacement that absorb energy during impact. These concepts have been evaluated, and the highest-ranking concept involves a crushable foam or honeycomb table edge attached to a rigid center frame. Preliminary results from a computer simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of this concept in reducing the injury risk to the occupants.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2005 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
November 5–11, 2005
Orlando, Florida, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Rail Transportation Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4229-0
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Design of a Workstation Table With Improved Crashworthiness Performance Available to Purchase
Daniel P. Parent,
Daniel P. Parent
U.S. Department of Transportation
Search for other works by this author on:
David C. Tyrell,
David C. Tyrell
U.S. Department of Transportation
Search for other works by this author on:
Benjamin Perlman
Benjamin Perlman
Tufts University
Search for other works by this author on:
Daniel P. Parent
U.S. Department of Transportation
David C. Tyrell
U.S. Department of Transportation
Robert Rancatore
TIAX, LLC
Benjamin Perlman
Tufts University
Paper No:
IMECE2005-82779, pp. 95-104; 10 pages
Published Online:
February 5, 2008
Citation
Parent, DP, Tyrell, DC, Rancatore, R, & Perlman, B. "Design of a Workstation Table With Improved Crashworthiness Performance." Proceedings of the ASME 2005 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Rail Transportation. Orlando, Florida, USA. November 5–11, 2005. pp. 95-104. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2005-82779
Download citation file:
22
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
A MADYMO Model of Near-Side Human Occupants in Side Impacts
J Biomech Eng (May,1994)
Rail Passenger Vehicle Crashworthiness Simulations Using Multibody Dynamics Approaches
J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam (July,2017)
Some Topics in Recent Advances and Applications of Structural Impact Dynamics
Appl. Mech. Rev (May,2011)
Related Chapters
Identification and Analysis of Risk
Managing Risks in Design & Construction Projects
Introduction
Managing Risks in Design & Construction Projects
Use of PSA in Lisencing of EPR 1600 in Finland (PSAM-0160)
Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management (PSAM)