The invention relates to a head module for a rail vehicle, said head module being suitable to be detachably fixed to the front face of a subsequent railcar unit without additional underframe. The head module consists of an inner and an outer shell and includes three systems which convert, in the event of a crash, the collision energy into a deformation one after the other or simultaneously and substantially independently of another.

The application relates to a crash system for the head module of a rail vehicle, said head module being detachably fixed to the front face of a subsequent railcar unit without additional underframe. The crash system has a crash conduction element that carries a crash box at its front end and the back end of which is fixed to the underframe support of the subsequent railcar unit. In the event of a crash, crash forces are thus absorbed by the underframe of the subsequent railcar unit.

A railroad tank car formed from steel alloy plates having improved toughness and puncture resistance. The steel alloy plates include a steel alloy including in wt. %: C: 0.1-0.15; Mn: 1.0-1.65; Si: 0.15-0.40; Al: 0.015-0.06; Mo: 0.1-0.3; Ni: 0.1-0.25; Nb: 0.015-0.045; Ti: up to 0.02; Cr: up to 0.22; V: up to 0.08; Cu: up to 0.35; P: max 0.025; S: max 0.015; and N: 0.004-0.01. The alloy plates may have been normalized for 30 minutes at 900° C. The alloy plates may have a tensile strength of at least 560 MPa; a yield strength of at least 345 MPa; a total elongation of at least 22%; a CVN impact toughness of at least 135.5J at −34.4° C.; a CVN impact toughness of at least 122J at −45.5° C. The alloy plates may have a ferrite-bainite microstructure, with 10% or less pearlite. The alloy plates of the inventive railroad tank car may have an absence of any banded ferrite-pearlite/martensite structure.

Provided are a collision energy absorption structure and a rail vehicle having the same. The collision energy absorption structure includes: a primary energy absorption structure, connected to a chassis boundary beam of a vehicle, the primary energy absorption structure having at least two spaced energy absorption cavities; an end energy absorption structure, the lower end of the end energy absorption structure being connected to the primary energy absorption structure; and a roof structure, the upper end of the end energy absorption structure being connected to the roof structure. The technical solution provided by the present invention can meet requirements of more complex road conditions.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a method for molding, using a honeycomb core, a composite material structure that is high-quality, low cost, and leaves less voids. The present disclosure addresses the problem of providing a method for molding, using a honeycomb core, a composite material structure with which it is possible to reduce dimples in a composite material skin at low cost. According to a method for molding a composite material structure of the present disclosure, an uncured composite material honeycomb sandwich panel in which prepreg is laminated on upper and lower surfaces of a honeycomb core via an adhesive is covered with a vacuum bag and placed in an autoclave. After that, the vacuum bag is evacuated and, while the evacuation is being continued, is heated and pressurized by the autoclave to cure a matrix resin of the prepreg and achieve adhesion to the honeycomb core.

A rail vehicle has a carbody shell having an end wall and a usable space. The end wall includes a doorway for providing access to the usable space, and at least two footplate catchers for preventing a set of footplates arranged adjacent to the footplate catcher from entering the usable space, such as in an event of a crash.

A rail vehicle body structure, comprising: a tubular corrugated plate; an annular beam and an underframe cross beam sleeved within the corrugated plate; and underframe side beams provided between the annular beam and the underframe cross beam. The two sides of the bottom of the corrugated plate are symmetrically provided with connection parts, and the underframe side beam is disposed on the outside of the connection part.

A rail vehicle body structure, comprising: a tubular corrugated plate; an annular beam and an underframe cross beam sleeved within the corrugated plate; and underframe side beams provided between the annular beam and the underframe cross beam. The two sides of the bottom of the corrugated plate are symmetrically provided with connection parts, and the underframe side beam is disposed on the outside of the connection part.

According to some embodiments, a railcar comprises at least two hoppers for transporting a commodity. Each hopper comprises a pair of side walls and a floor. The railcar further comprises a composite partition separating the hoppers. The composite partition comprises a frame comprising a first material coupled to the pair of side walls and the floor at a location separating hoppers. The frame comprises a center opening. The frame is configured to provide structural support for structural loads exerted on the pair of side walls and the floor. The composite partition further comprises a composite section comprising a second material coupled to the frame and covering the central opening of the frame. The composite section is configured to withstand loads exerted on the composite section by the commodity transported in the hoppers.

A floor section for an insulated railcar includes a floor plate and a composite section coupled to the floor plate. The composite section includes a plurality of composite beams aligned parallel to one another. Each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams includes an inner core and an outer material surrounding the inner core. The inner core includes an insulating material and is configured to support the outer material. An upper surface of each composite beam of the plurality of composite beams, which extends along a length of the composite beam, is coupled to an underside of the floor plate.