The Indian Railways wanted to improve the safety of their GS and SLR coach cars. Applied Research Associates worked with TTCI and Indian Railways to redesign the railways passenger coach cars for improved crashworthiness.

The ARA team performed a combination of crash analyses of existing and modified designs using LS-DYNA and comparisons to crash testing performed by TTCI and IR.

The goals of the project were:

• Eliminate undesirable crash deformations and introduce controlled collapse in the car end crush zone.
  
  
• Update car body designs for retrofit or construction of new coach cars.
  
• Base new designs on existing vehicle structures.

TTCI & IR performed validation crash tests based on the new parameters.

Redesigned GS and SLR passenger coach cars will better withstand accidents and improve passenger safety.

For inquiries or comments, please contact:

Dr. Steven Kirkpatrick
Principal Engineer
e-mail: skirkpatrick@ara.com