As part of the Association of American Railroad (AAR) Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) program, MxV Rail and the End-of-Car (EOC) Energy Management Task Force of the AAR’s Equipment Engineering Committee (EEC) are working together to develop a combined testing and modeling approach to evaluate draft system performance. This approach includes both physical impact testing, used to evaluate impact protection and characterize the systems, and modeling, used to evaluate in-train scenarios that are not necessarily covered by existing standards. Draft systems mitigate damage to railcars and lading by managing energy from coupler forces generated during train operations. In North America, most draft systems are either friction draft gears or hydraulic end-of-car cushioning (EOCC) units. Friction draft gears use a combination of spring elements (e.g., elastomeric and metal springs) and friction elements (e.g., friction clutches and wedges) to absorb energy from relative motion between cars and control slack, with a typical displacement…
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