Numerical study on crashworthiness assessment and improvement of composite carbody structures of tilting train using hybrid finite element model

This paper describes the numerical results on crashworthiness assessment and improvement scheme of tilting train made of composite materials. The bodyshell of tilting train was composed of aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels and carbon-fabric/epoxy laminate composites. The input parameters for numerical analysis were obtained from material tests. Crashworthiness analysis of the tilting train was conducted using the explicit finite element analysis code LS-DYNA3D and according to four collision scenarios of the Korean railway safety rule. The hybrid finite element modeling technique, which is made up of 2D shell and 3D solid elements for three cars in the front and 1D equivalent element for the rest cars in the rear, was introduced to ensure fast and accurate design verification for crashworthiness of railway vehicle. The numerical results showed that hybrid modeling technique was an economical approach for the analyzed results, finite element modeling, and calculating time in comparison with conventional modeling method using 2D shell and 3D solid elements for railway vehicles.