Full-Scale Train-to-Train Impact Test and Multi-Body Dynamic Simulation Analysis

When a train crashes with another train at a high speed, it will lead to significant financial losses and societal costs. Carrying out a train-to-train crash test is of great significance to reproducing the collision response and assessing the safety performance of trains. To ensure the testability and safety of the train collision test, it is necessary to analyze and predict the dynamic behavior of the train in the whole test process before the test. This paper presents a study of the dynamic response of the train in each test stage during the train-to-train crash test under different conditions. In this study, a 1D/3D co-simulation dynamics model of the train under various load conditions of driving, collision and braking has been established based on the MotionView dynamic simulation software. The accuracy of the numerical model is verified by comparing with a five-vehicle formations train-to-train crash test data. Sensitivities of several key influencing parameters, such as the train formation, impact velocity and the vehicle mass, are reported in detail as well. The results show that the increase in the impact velocity has an increasing effect on the movement displacement of the vehicle in each process. However, increasing the vehicle mass and train formation has almost no effect on the running displacement of the braking process of the traction train. By sorting the variables in descending order of sensitivity, it can be obtained that impact speed > train formation > vehicle mass. The polynomial response surface method (PRSM) is used to construct the fitting relationship between the parameters and the responses.