The Hindu Business Line : Rlys conducts first crashworthy test

RESEARCH Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), an arm of the Railways, has successfully conducted the full-scale actual crashworthy test for the first time in the country for a passenger train coach.

Crashworthy coaches are specially designed to ensure minimum injuries to passengers in the event of a crash.

As a follow up to the first test, which was conducted between a railway coach and a wagon filled with concrete (to get the effect of a collision wall), RDSO will now work towards a second crash test between two passenger coaches.

"The outcome of our test was positive. The coach crashed at those areas where damage to passenger would be minimised. It crashed near the two ends instead of near the door - which was basically the result expected based on our previous computer simulation tests," the RDSO Director- General, Mr A.K. Rao, told Business Line.

The test was conducted on March 29 in the presence of experts from Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (RITES) and the US-based Transportation Technology Center Inc (TTCI).

"To start with, we would study the inputs in detail from the first test. If there are further possible improvements in the coach, we will design coaches based on the latest inputs and conduct a second test between two coaches," he added.

The second test is likely to be held around July, he informed.

In order to conduct the first test, the RDSO required a coach and a collision wall. It sourced the coach from Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala. The coach was designed according to a crashworthy model developed by computers. A concrete-filled wagon weighing about 120 tonnes was used as a collision wall. The wagon surface on which the coach will be made to crash is plated with three-inch steel.

More than 12 organisations including RITES, TTCI, RCF, Kapurthala and IIT, Delhi are involved in development of the crashworthy coach.

Other US-based companies such as the Applied Research Associates and GMH Engineering are providing simulation expertise and instrumentation expertise respectively.

While RDSO is the nodal agency, TTCI, which provides management and engineering support to the railway transportation industry across the world, is providing testing inputs.

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