United States Department of Transportation
i
Full-Scale Shell Impact Test of a DOT-117 Tank Car
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2018-02-01
[PDF-974.28 KB]
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Abstract:On September 28, 2016, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted a full-scale shell impact test of a DOT-117A100W (DOT-117) tank car at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo CO. The shell of the car was struck at the mid-length by a 297,000 pound ram car, which was equipped with a 12-inch by 12-inch impactor. TTC test collected data were compared to data from previous tests conducted with DOT-111 and DOT-112 tank cars, as well as the results from a finite element analysis (FEA) simulation conducted before the test took place. The test tank car was filled to approximately 95% of its capacity with water, while the remaining 5% outage was at atmospheric pressure. The tank car's jacket has one-half inch thermal protection outside of the 9/16-inch tank shell. The pre-test simulation at 13 mph did not result in puncture of the tank, but a puncture of the simulated tank did occur at 14 mph. Based on these results, the target test speed was 13.5 mph. The actual impact occurred at 13.9 mph and generated approximately 1.9 million foot-pounds of kinetic energy. The DOT-117 tank car's jacket experienced two vertical tears during the test, but the tank was not punctured. The impact created an approximately 52-inch indentation and a peak force of nearly 900 kips. After the test, the impact vehicle and the tank car itself rebounded from the impact wall, which created a 10 inch to 14 inch gap between the wall and the back of the tank. A preliminary comparison between the test measurements and the pre-test FEA indicated excellent agreement between the test data and the predictions. After the test, material coupons were cut from undamaged areas of the tank car and will be subjected to tensile testing. The results of these coupon tests will be used to update the material properties in the FEA model, which will then be re-run at the actual impact speed.
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