Collision characteristics of the intermediate coupler of a rail vehicle

作者：Jingke Zhang, Tao Zhu, Bing Yang, Xiaorui Wang, Shoune Xiao, Guangwu Yang, Yanwen Liu · 发表于：Vehicle System Dynamics · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1080/00423114.2022.2157740 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Railway Engineering and Dynamics、Transportation Safety and Impact Analysis、Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems

Suppose the intermediate coupler of a rail vehicle is unstable during the collision process and loses its connection and energy dissipation functions. In that case, it will significantly reduce the performance of the train crashworthiness function and increase the risk of train derailment. This paper aims to establish a refined finite element model (RFEM) that can simulate the buckling behaviour and investigate the bending resistance and buckling instability characteristics of the intermediate coupler, and the accuracy of the RFEM was verified by quoting the results of an existing intermediate coupler impact test. The results demonstrated that the proposed coupler modelling method could better simulate the energy absorption characteristics and unstable behaviour. Compared to the test results, the differences in the initial crushing force, maximum longitudinal compression displacement, minimum crushing force, and maximum crushing force were 6.5%, 1.3%, 3.6%, and 6.5%, respectively. Within the allowable range of parameters, the maximum bending force linearly increased with an increase in the initial longitudinal compression displacement. As the pitch or yaw angle increased, the longitudinal buckling load of the coupler linearly decreased and became more sensitive to the pitch angle. When pitch and yaw angles existed simultaneously, the longitudinal buckling load was further reduced.