An Investigation of Dynamic Responses and Head Injuries of Standing Subway Passengers during Collisions

Abstract

With the development of the subway and the pressing demand of environmentally friendly transportation, more and more people travel by subway. In recent decades, the issues about passenger passive safety on the train have received extensive attention. In this research, the head injury of a standing passenger in the subway is investigated. Three MADYMO models of the different standing passenger postures, defined as baseline scenarios, are numerically set up. HIC15 values of passengers with different postures are gained by systematic parametric studies. The injury numerical simulation results of various scenarios with different friction coefficients, collision acceleration, standing angle, horizontal handrail height, and ring handrail height are analyzed. Results show that the horizontal handrail provides better protection in the three different standing passenger postures. Different friction coefficients and the standing angle have great impact on the head injuries of passengers in three different scenarios. The handrail height also has some effects on head injury of passengers with different standing postures, so it is necessary to be considered when designing the interior layout of the subway. This study may provide guidance for the safety design of the subway and some advices for standing subway passengers.

Analysis of passenger’s injuries caused by sidewall impact during train-overturn derailments

“…24,25 In the 1950s, research on roadway traffic safety led to the development of biomechanics of head impact and spawned a significant criterion to assess head injury criterion (HIC), which had been widely addressed in rail vehicle and automotive impact accidents. 26 Although passive train safety and occupant safety have been widely studied, few studies involved occupant safety due to train overturn accidents. According to the limited study on train overturn accidents, it found the patterns of injuries from train overturn accidents are different from that of train collision.…”

“…24,25 In the 1950s, research on roadway traffic safety led to the development of biomechanics of head impact and spawned a significant criterion to assess head injury criterion (HIC), which had been widely addressed in rail vehicle and automotive impact accidents. 26…”