Full Scale Tank Car Rollover Test—Survivability of Top Fittings and Top Fittings Protective Structure

Full-scale rollover crash tests were performed on three non-pressure tank car bodies in order to determine the effectiveness of two different types of protective structures in protecting the top fittings and to validate previous analytical work. This included an unprotected base case car, a car with an added protective skid weldment, and a third car with an added protective bolt-on sleeve on the unloading nozzle with a reinforcing cone. Pivoting the carbodies in a fixture about a fixed axis controlled the test conditions. The fittings or protective structures impacted a concrete target pad. Dynamic Finite Element analysis work was done prior to each test to determine proper test conditions and parameters.