GB2550852A

GB2550852A - Rail vehicle provided with a blast-resistant partition wall

Info

Publication number: GB2550852A
Application number: GB1609121.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Morgan Jerry
Original assignee: Bombardier Transportation GmbH
Current assignee: Alstom Transportation Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2016-05-24
Filing date: 2016-05-24
Publication date: 2017-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 2036-05-24
Also published as: EP3464012A1; GB2550852B; WO2017202792A1; EP3464012B1; GB201609121D0

Abstract

A rail vehicle (10 fig 1) comprises a car body structure (20 fig 2), a drivers cabin (14 fig 1), a passenger compartment (16 fig 1) and drivers cabin back wall partition 18 formed of panels 64 made from blast resistant, missile resistant and fire resistant composite material 66. The composite material may comprise an autoclaved sandwich assembly comprising a core 68 between a stainless steel plate 70 and a carbon fibre, fibreglass or stainless steel plate 72. The core material may comprise vermiculite. The back wall partition may comprise trim panels (74 fig 5) covering the partition panels and may be made of aluminium, and framework 42 comprising floor 44, two side 46 and roof 48 sections and doorway 56 with an access door (78 fig 5). There may be a drivers cabin HVAC connecting the drivers cabin to the outside of the vehicle. There may be a back wall cubicle (80 fig 3) in the drivers cabin adjacent to the back wall partition.

Description

RAIL VEHICLE PROVIDED WITH A BLAST-RESISTANT PARTITION WALL TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a rail vehicle provided with a blast-resistant partition wall.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Rail vehicles provided with a driver's cabin and a passenger compartment usually include a partition between the driver's cabin and the passenger compartment, which provides a secure fire barrier, and includes a door for access to the passenger compartment from the driver's cabin and vice-versa, and a means of egress from the driver's cabin in an emergency.

[0003] Additional requirements have emerged to take into account terrorist attacks, which are not fulfilled by the conventional designs. It is of particular importance to counteract attempts to disable the driver, whose actions during a terrorist attack are essential to limit the extent of the attack, safeguard the passengers and initiate the rescue operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The invention aims to provide an improved design for a rail vehicle comprising a driver's cabin and a passenger compartment, which will prevent assailants from disabling the driver.

[0005] According to the invention, there is provided a rail vehicle comprising a car body structure, a driver's cabin, a passenger compartment, and driver's cabin back wall partition separating the driver's cabin from the passenger compartment, wherein the driver's cabin back wall partition comprises partition panels made from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant and fire-resistant composite material.

[0006] According to a preferred embodiment, the composite material of the partition panels comprises a sandwich assembly, preferably an autoclaved sandwich assembly, comprising a core material between a stainless steel plate on a passenger compartment side and a driver's cabin side plate made of stainless steel, fibreglass plate or carbon fibre on a driver's cabin side. The core material of the composite material of the partition panels may comprise vermiculite. The driver's cabin side plate may comprise S2-glass fibres. The vermiculite core provides the fire barrier, the S2 glass provides the penetration resistance and the strength afforded by the autoclaved sandwich construction provides inherent blast resistance.

[0007] Preferably, the driver's cabin back wall partition further comprises one or more trim panels covering the partition panels and facing the passenger compartment, the trim panels being preferably made of aluminium. The trim panels, apart from their aesthetic function, contribute to the overall penetration resistance.

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment, the driver's cabin back wall partition further comprises a framework comprising a floor section, two body side vertical sections and a roof section, directly fastened to the car body structure, and the partition panels are directly secured to the framework. The framework provides a robust structure that will transfer blast pressure loads on the partition panels to the car body structure.

[0009] According to a preferred embodiment, the framework further comprises a doorway frame directly secured to the roof section of the framework at a top end and to the floor section of the framework and/or to the car body structure at a lower end, the driver's cabin back wall partition further comprising an access door fitted into the doorway frame. The doorway frame comprises at least two vertical edges. It is preferably a U-shaped or rectangular structure with a top edge and/or a bottom edge joining the two vertical edges. Preferably, the access door comprises a door panel manufactured from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant, fire-resistant composite material. The composite material of the door panel may comprise a sandwich assembly, preferably autoclaved, comprising a core material between a stainless steel plate on a passenger compartment side and a driver's cabin side plate made of stainless steel, fibreglass or carbon fibres on a driver's cabin side. The core material of the composite material of the door panel may comprise vermiculite. The driver's cabin side plate of the composite material of the door panel may comprise S2-glass fibres.

[0010] Preferably, the access door is hinged to the doorway frame so as to open into the passenger compartment only. In a closed position, the access door bears against the doorway frame along at least along two and preferably at least three edges of the access door. This further contributes to the overall blast resistance of the driver's cabin back wall partition.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the doorway frame is equidistant or substantially equidistant from the body side sections of the framework.

[0012] Advantageously, the door and doorway frame are provided with a key-operated lock with at least three, preferably at least four latches. The latches can be located along the vertical edge of the door opposite the hinge and/or along the horizontal upper edge of the door.

[0013] To further prevent the blast pressure pulse entering the cab, the rail vehicle may further comprise a driver's cabin HVAC system connecting the driver's cabin to the outside of the rail vehicle without entering the passenger compartment.

[0014] According to one embodiment, at least one back wall cubicle is located in the driver's cabin directly adjacent to the driver's cabin back wall partition. The back wall cubicle may have a back wall cubicle framework directly secured to the car body structure. Such cubicles provide additional structural support after the partition and door have deflected under blast load by a few millimetres.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0015] Other advantages and features of the invention will then become more clearly apparent from the following description of a specific embodiment of the invention given as non-restrictive examples only and represented in the accompanying drawings in which: - figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a rail vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising a driver's cabin and a passenger compartment separated by a driver's cabin back wall partition; - figure 2 illustrates a section of the vehicle showing the driver's cabin back wall partition viewed from the passenger compartment; - figure 3 illustrates a section of the vehicle showing the driver's cabin back wall partition viewed from the driver's cabin; - figure 4 illustrates the driver's cabin back wall partition viewed from the passenger compartment; - figure 5 illustrates the driver's cabin back wall partition viewed from the driver's cabin; - figure 6 illustrates a sandwich structure of a composite material of a partition panel of the driver's cabin back wall partition; - figure 7 illustrates a sandwich structure of a composite material of a door panel of the driver's cabin back wall partition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] With reference to figure 1, a rail vehicle 10 comprises a car body 12 divided into a driver's cab 14 and one or more passenger compartments 16 by a driver's cabin back wall partition 18.

[0017] As illustrated in figures 2 and 3, the car body 12 has a car body structure 20, which comprises a floor section 22, two body side sections 24 and a roof section 26, and consists of structural members such as longitudinal lower girders 28 and floor planks 30 in a floor section 22, external side wall planks 32 and upper cant rails 34 in the two body side sections 24 and roof planks 36, 38 joined to the external side wall panels 34 by the cant rails 32 in the roof section 26. The roof section 26 is raised in the driver's cabin 14 compared to the passenger compartment 16, and comprises a vertical diaphragm 40 joining the somewhat higher roof planks 36 of the driver's cabin 14 to the lower roof planks 38 of the passenger compartment 16. The structural members 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 are preferably made of aluminium and are permanently fastened together by any appropriate means, e.g. by welding or with rivets.

[0018] The driver's cabin back wall partition 18 is illustrated in more details in figures 4 and 5 and comprises a framework 42, which is directly secured to the car body structure 20, e.g. with rivets or preferably with removable fasteners such as M8 bolts. The framework 42 comprises of a floor section 44, two body side vertical sections 46 and a roof section 48. The floor section 44 consists of left and right hand floor channels 50 manufactured from aluminium extrusions, which follow the profile of the floor planks 30 and are fastened directly to the floor planks 30. The two body side vertical sections 46 consist of left and right hand body side channels 52 manufactured from aluminium extrusions, which follow the profile of the external side wall planks 32 and are fastened directly to the external side wall planks 32. The roof section 48 comprises a two-piece diaphragm top beam 54 made from aluminium extrusions, which extends from one upper cant rail 34 to the other and is secured directly to the upper cant rails 34 and to the diaphragm 40.

[0019] The framework 42 further comprises a one-piece doorway frame 56, which is an aluminium construction comprising at least two parallel vertical edges 58 joint at the top by a horizontal top edge 60 and at the bottom by a horizontal bottom edge 62. The top edge 60 is directly fastened to the diaphragm top beam 54 while the bottom edge 62 is directly secured to one of the floor planks 30.

[0020] Left and right partition panels 64 close the driver's cabin back wall partition 18 on each side of the doorway. The partition panels 64 slide and locate into the channel sections of the body side channels 52 and floor channels 50 of the framework and are further supported by the diaphragm top beam 54 and by the vertical edges 58 of the doorway frame 56.

[0021] The partition panels 64 are made from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant and fire-resistant composite material 66, illustrated in figure 6 and directly secured to the framework 42. The composite material 66 of the partition panels 64 is an autoclaved sandwich construction comprising a 20 mm vermiculite core 68, with 0.8mm stainless steel plate 70 on the saloon side and 3 mm of S2 glass 72 on the driver's cabin side. The vermiculite core 68 provides a fire barrier, the S2 glass provides penetration resistance and the strength afforded by the autoclaved sandwich construction provides inherent blast resistance.

[0022] As illustrated in figure 5, the partition panels 64 can be covered by 3 mm aluminium trim panels 74 facing the passenger compartment 16. On the passenger compartment side, an emergency ladder stowage compartment 76 can be provided. These elements, however, only slightly improve the penetration resistance.

[0023] The driver's cabin back wall partition 18 further comprises an access door 78 fitted into the doorway frame 56. The access door 78 comprises a door panel 80 manufactured from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant, fire-resistant composite material 82. The composite material 82 of the door panel is very similar to the composite material 66 of the partition panels 64 and consists of an autoclaved sandwich construction comprising a 20 mm vermiculite core 84, with a 0.8mm stainless steel plate 86 on the passenger compartment side and 5 mm of S2 glass 88 on the driver's cabin side (see figure 7). In order to provide the necessary penetration protection, the door panel 80 requires 2 mm more S2 glass material than the partition panels 64, because the access door 78 does not benefit from an aluminium trim panel.

[0024] The access door 78 may comprise a metallic rectangular door frame and is hinged to one of the vertical edges 58 of the doorway frame 56 so as to open into the passenger compartment 16 only. In the closed position, the access door 78 bears against the doorway frame 56 at least along the vertical edges 58 and the top edge 60 of the doorway frame 56. As an option, the bottom edge 62 may be provided with a step on which the bottom edge of the access door 78 bears in the closed position to provide further structural support. However, consideration should be given to potential tripping hazard issues for train personal going through the doorway.

[0025] The access door 78 and doorway frame 56 are provided with a key-operated lock with at least three, preferably at least four latches.

[0026] One or more back wall cubicles 80 are located in the driver's cabin 14 directly adjacent to the back wall partition 16. Each back wall cubicle 80 has a back wall cubicle framework 82 directly secured to the car body structure 20.

[0027] The rail vehicle comprises a driver's cabin HVAC system with and HVAC ducting 84 that connects the driver's cabin to the outside of the rail vehicle without entering the passenger compartment 16.

[0028] The overall design of the driver's cabin back wall partition 18 provides a secure barrier against penetration due to explosion or terrorist act in the adjoining passenger compartment 16, which might disable the driver, and more specifically against penetration due to blast pressures and missiles [bullets).

[0029] In a blast situation, the blast pressure loads will be reacted by the compression of the partition panels 64 and access door panel 80 onto the driver's cabin back wall partition framework 42 and into the car body structure 20. Additional support is provided by the back wall cubicles 82 after the partition and door panels have deflected under blast load by a few millimetres.

[0030] The relocation of the driver's cabin ducting 84 completely outside the passenger compartment 16 further prevents the blast pressure pulse from entering the driver's cabin 14.

[0031] The autoclaved sandwich materials 66, 82 selected for the partition and door panels 64, 80 provide a good missile penetration resistance without compromising the fire performance.

Claims

1. A rail vehicle [10] comprising a car body structure [20], a driver's cabin [14], a passenger compartment [16], and driver's cabin back wall partition [18] separating the driver's cabin [14] from the passenger compartment [18], characterised in that the driver's cabin back wall partition [18] comprises partition panels [64] made from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant and fire-resistant composite material [66].

2. The rail vehicle of claim 1, wherein the composite material (66) of the partition panels (64) comprises a sandwich assembly, preferably an autoclaved sandwich assembly, comprising a core material (68) between a stainless steel plate (70) on a passenger compartment side and a driver's cabin side plate (72) made of stainless steel, fibreglass plate or carbon fibre on a driver's cabin side.

3. The rail vehicle of claim 2, wherein the core material (68) of the composite material (66) of the partition panels (64) comprises vermiculite.

4. The rail vehicle of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the driver's cabin side plate (72) comprises S2-glass fibres.

5. The rail vehicle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the driver's cabin back wall partition (18) further comprises one or more trim panels (74) covering the partition panels (64) and facing the passenger compartment (16), the trim panels (74) being preferably made of aluminium.

6. The rail vehicle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the driver's cabin back wall partition (18) further comprises a framework (42) comprising a floor section (44), two body side vertical sections (46) and a roof section (48), directly fastened to the car body structure (20), and the partition panels (64) are directly secured to the framework (42).

7. The rail vehicle of claim 6, wherein the framework further comprises a doorway frame (56) directly secured to the roof section (48) of the framework (42) at a top end and to the floor section (44) of the framework (42) and/or to the car body structure (20) at a lower end, the driver's cabin back wall partition (18) further comprising an access door (78) fitted into the doorway frame (56).

8. The rail vehicle of claim 7, wherein the access door comprises a door panel (80) manufactured from a blast-resistant, missile-resistant, fire-resistant composite material (82).

9. The rail vehicle of any one of claim 8, wherein the composite material (82) of the door panel (80) comprises a sandwich assembly, preferably autoclaved, comprising a core material (84) between a stainless steel plate (88) on a passenger compartment side and a driver's cabin side plate (86) made of stainless steel, fibreglass or carbon fibres on a driver's cabin side.

10. The rail vehicle of claim 9, wherein the core material (84) of the composite material (82) of the door panel (80) comprises vermiculite.

11. The rail vehicle of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the driver's cabin side plate (86) of the composite material (82) of the door panel (80) comprises S2-glass fibres.

12. The rail vehicle of any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the access door (78) is hinged to the doorway frame (56) so as to open into the passenger compartment (16) only, and, in a closed position, bears against the doorway frame (56) along at least along two and preferably at least three edges of the access door (78).

13. The rail vehicle of any one of claims 7 to 12, wherein the doorway frame (56) is equidistant or substantially equidistant from the body side sections (46) of the framework (42).

14. The rail vehicle of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a driver's cabin HVAC system connecting the driver's cabin (14) to the outside of the rail vehicle (10) without entering the passenger compartment (16).

15. The rail vehicle of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one back wall cubicle (80) located in the driver's cabin (14) directly adjacent to the driver's cabin back wall partition (18), the back wall cubicle (80) having a back wall cubicle framework (82) directly secured to the car body structure (20).