Impact Behavior of Protective Support for Front-End Locomotive Using Finite Element Simulation

Abstract

Frequent high-impact collisions between locomotives and animals in Malaysia’s East Coast rail sector pose significant risks to front-end components, particularly pneumatic piping, which may lead to train failure. Due to inertia, locomotive trains require stopping distances exceeding 900 meters, making it difficult to avoid collisions with unexpected obstacles. This highlights the need for effective front-end protective support structures to mitigate impact damage. Previous studies on train-animal collisions have mainly focused on fixed-speed impacts and general front-end designs, with limited consideration of variable operating conditions in Malaysia’s rail environment. This study addresses these gaps by using explicit finite element dynamics simulations to evaluate the impact behavior and performance characteristics of solid and hollow protective support structures at crash speeds ranging from 15 km/h to 122 km/h. A 90,000 kg locomotive and a 250 kg animal were modeled as simplified three-dimensional rigid bodies, while both protective supports were defined as deformable bodies made of ASTM A216 WCB carbon steel. The hollow design was assigned a uniform thickness of 3mm. The impact behavior and performance were assessed based on residual velocity, velocity loss, energy, equivalent plastic strain, normal elastic strain, and deformation. Results indicate that hollow protective supports provide superior energy dissipation by absorbing more impact energy, but experience greater plastic deformation and a higher risk of failure. In contrast, solid protective support offers superior rigidity, structural integrity, and durability, making it more reliable for long-term protection of pneumatic piping during frontal locomotive collisions. These findings emphasize the importance of structurally resilient designs in enhancing real-world crashworthiness and operational safety.