Abstract:

To investigate the effects of longitudinal coupling impact loads on the dynamic performance and structural safety of railway containers, a bidirectional fluid-structure interaction co-simulation model was established by integrating Fluent and Simpack. A 20 ft international standard container with a filling ratio of 70% was taken as the research object. The dynamic response characteristics of the railway container vehicle under a longitudinal coupling impact load of 5 km/h were comparatively analyzed under conditions without baffles and with different numbers of baffles (1 to 3). The influence of liquid sloshing on the structural stress and deformation of the container as well as on the vehicle dynamic performance was systematically examined by the study. The results show that under a 5 km/h longitudinal coupling impact, the peak longitudinal sloshing force and pitch sloshing moment inside the container reach 146.78 and -347.6 kN·m, respectively. Compared with transporting an equivalent mass of rigid cargo, the peak vehicle longitudinal acceleration is reduced from 2.45g to 2.05g. The vehicle pitch angle is significantly increased by transporting liquid cargo, and the peak derailment coefficient of the leading wheelset rises to 0.37. Under the no-baffle condition, significant stress concentration and structural deformation on the front wall of the container are caused by liquid sloshing. After adding three baffles, the peak longitudinal sloshing force is reduced by 36.9%, the peak pitch sloshing moment by 66%, the maximum equivalent stress on the container front wall by 22.9%, and the maximum deformation by 18.6%. Meanwhile, the peak derailment coefficient of the leading wheelset decreases by 64%, and the vehicle pitch angle is notably reduced.

Key words: railway, container, dynamic response, vehicle safety, fluid-structure interaction, co-simulation