New York, NY
New York City Transit Rail Vehicle Qualification
Scope/Solutions
Deploying new rail vehicles for New York City Transit (NYCT) requires qualifying the carbody’s fitness for use and incorporating crash energy management (CEM). SGH, working with EXP, is providing engineering support to help Hyundai Rotem develop a carbody design to satisfy the NYCT’s specifications. The carbody design must consider manufacturability and balance the demands of crashworthiness, static, and fatigue performance requirements over their minimum forty-year service life.
SGH developed a conceptual design to incorporate crush elements in the end frame that will help control collapse of the carbody’s end. Highlights of our work include:
- Developing finite element models to evaluate carbody static, fatigue, and natural frequency load cases and the required train-to-train crash analyses
- Performing scoping analyses to determine appropriate crash energy distributions for a ten-car assembly, including preliminary stress analyses for the primary static load cases
- Adapting the three-dimensional models to incorporate the CEM design
- Supporting testing of a prototype structure, including crush testing conducted on individual full-scale CEM components and dynamic impact testing conducted on an endframe representing the CEM system and its support on the carbody
- Developing required project documentation to help Hyundai Rotem qualify their design for use in New York City’s transit system
- Advising and helping Hyundai Rotem interact with NYCT and their engineers to efficiently navigate the qualification program
Project Summary
Solutions
New Construction
Services
Structures | Advanced Analysis
Markets
Infrastructure & Transportation
Client(s)
EXP | Hyundai Rotem
Specialized Capabilities
Computational Mechanics
Key team members
Robert MacNeill
Managing Principal, Structural Mechanics and Materials
Additional Projects
Northeast
Logan International Airport, West Parking, Controlled Demolition of Post-tensioned Concrete Garage and Slab
A portion of the West Parking Garage fifth floor was cast on a snowy day. When the forms were stripped, contractor observed cracks and ice-filled voids in the slab. The owner and contractor needed to know if the 20,000 sq ft deck could be repaired or should be replaced.
Northeast
First Street Bridge
The First Street Bridge is a bascule drawbridge carrying traffic westbound over Broad Canal. The bridge suffered from several forms of deterioration including damage to the concrete counterweight. SGH prepared remedial designs and developed construction documents for rehabilitation of the bridge.


