Author(s)

B.C. Webb & K. Kormi

Abstract

The FEM is used to perform two quite different tasks. In the first a travelling line of masses joined by springs with different stiffness characteristics (elastic and elastic-plastic) is used to simulate the behaviour of a row of carriages suddenly brought to rest. This simulation of a train collision can be help gain an understanding of the forces involved in such a situation. However, it does not take into account any damage that may occur to each coach in the train. We therefore also apply the FEM to investigate the response of an idealised model of a single coach involved in such a collision. 1 Introduction In recent years a great deal of work has been published in the literature concerning the load

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