HAZARDOUS MATERIAL TANK CARS--TANK HEAD PROTECTIVE 'SHIELD' OR 'BUMPER' DESIGN

摘要

The objective of the study was to design a railroad tank car head protective device which will reduce the frequency of head punctures in accidents. Accident data were reviewed in detail for the past six years to correlate head damage frequency and severity with various types of cars, to determine distribution patterns of damage over head surfaces, and to assess the costs to the railroad shipping industry of head punctures. Full scale head impact tests, previously run, were also reviewed. From these two reviews, design criteria were established and used to design a large number of schemes which were then subjected to a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis. (Author)