Injury Mitigation in Locomotive Crashworthiness

The objective of this work sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration is to develop mitigation methods for safety of crew members in the event of train collisions. The measures considered are seatbelts, airbags, a reversing seat, an energy absorbing seat, a load limiting seat, and their combinations. The injury mitigation potential of two-point and three point seat belts, airbags, and combinations thereof has been identified as a promising approach. This has been evaluated using the Finite Element Method and is being validated using a prototype under testing in a sled test. In addition, another mitigation method that uses a rotating chair is also being developed. Injuries incurred without any mitigation methods are very likely in both the frontal and rollover scenario. The head is the likeliest candidate for the greatest injuries due to direct impacts with the cabin interior. A two-point seat belt (lap belt) reduces these injury risks but does not eliminate them, especially in the rollover scenarios. A three-point seat belt (lap belt and shoulder belt) further reduces these risks. Adoption of airbags eliminates the direct impacts in frontal collisions, although their effectiveness could be limited for very severe collisions. Airbags also provide some mitigation in rollover situations. The effectiveness of air bags is increased in either scenario with the use of at least a two-point seat belt. The reversing seat achieves the same benefits regardless of the usage of the seat belts in a purely frontal collision, but offers little mitigation in a rollover situation. The use of a three-point seat belt affords injury mitigation in this case.