R44 SIR (Staten Island Railroad) Inspection of the Car Framing

American Structural Engineering (ASE) was a Prime Consultant for Inspection and Structural Analysis of the 10 Rail cars for Staten Island Railroad. Inspection area included are car body bolster gussets, area of the car body bolster to the side sill web and HVAC support bracket area. ASE team performed Inspection, crack-growth and fatigue crack-growth analysis provided reports.

Project Details: ASE team performed the field inspection on (10) R44 Rail car body for existing cracks. The areas inspected are the critical locations on the car body, and include the car body bolster gussets, area of the car body bolster to the side sill web, and HVAC support bracket area. ASE team reviewed the inspected areas to determine loads to support crack-growth analysis after the inspections of the ten (10) cars. After completion of inspection and crack-growth analysis, ASE team performed fatigue crack-growth analysis to determine how long until the cracks will grow to the critical length, which will determine the maximum time permitted between inspections of the R44 SIR cars. After fatigue crack-growth analysis ASE team delivered to the Project Manager a final written report detailing the findings of the fatigue crack-growth analysis, as well as providing a recommendation on the optimal R44 Inspection Schedule based on its findings.