Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Emmanuel Matsika
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Increasingly, urban and high speed trains are incorporating tables (workstations) as common railway vehicle interior furniture because passengers prefer seating by bay tables. Among table design characteristics, the most challenging is meeting crashworthiness requirements. Past accident data and sled test results have shown that in the event of railway vehicle frontal impact, occupants located in the bay seating are exposed to chest and abdominal injuries upon contact with tables resulting from secondary collision. In some cases tables have tended to be structurally weak; they easily detach from the side walls and/or floor mounting. Subsequently these become unguided missiles that strike occupants, resulting in injuries. This paper presents an analysis of the crash performance of a typical bay table. The results provide some understanding of the table’s crash safety, giving an indication of its impact aggression. Table materials are characterised using quasi-static compressive tests. In addition, experimental dynamic (impact) tests are conducted using a pendulum representing a body block (mass). The results provide information about the possible loading of the table on the occupant in the event of a crash. Contact forces are compared with chest and abdominal injury tolerance thresholds to infer the collision injury potential. Recommendations are then made on design of bay tables to meet the “functional-strength-and-safety balance”.
Author(s): Matsika E, Peng Q
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Transport Problems
Year: 2015
Volume: 10
Issue: Special Edition
Pages: 97-110
Print publication date: 17/12/2015
Online publication date: 21/04/2017
Acceptance date: 28/11/2015
Date deposited: 03/02/2020
ISSN (print): 1896-0596
ISSN (electronic): 2300-861X
Publisher: Silesian University of Technology
URL: https://doi.org/10.21307/tp-2015-065
DOI: 10.21307/tp-2015-065
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
