Study on Crashworthiness of Shrink Tube Anti-Creep Device

Abstract

Based on the requirements of the narrow installation space of a train end, compact energy-absorbing travel, and huge energy suck, a shrink tube anti-creep device was designed. The crashworthiness of different structures was studied by means of a material test, a trolley test, and numerical simulation. For every 1 mm increase in tube wall thickness, 1 mm increase in the axial length of the friction cone, and 0.01 increase in the friction coefficient, the mean crushing force (MCF) increased by 45.1 kN, 13.5 kN, and 30.5 kN, respectively. When the cone angle of the shrink tube increased from α = 5° to α = 25°, the increase in the MCF with different thicknesses was about 600%. The MCF was most affected by the cone angle, followed by the wall thickness, the friction coefficient, and the axial length of the friction cone. The change in the contact length of the friction cone of the shrink tube under different structural parameters was compared. The contact length decreased with the increase in tube wall thickness and increased with the increase in angle. The variation rule of MCF was obtained to provide a reference for the development of genealogical products.