Design and simulation for the passenger seats of the Long Island Rail Road In New-York

Client
Khrome Products-Transport
Sector
Transportation
Expertise
  • Product Development
  • Numerical Simulation and Physical Testing

CONTEXT

Developed for the daily commuters on trains serving the eastern suburbs of New York City located on Long Island and the northern suburbs of Connecticut, the M9 seats were manufactured by our client, Khrome PT, on behalf of Kawasaki.

CHALLENGES

The twofold objective was to comply with the safety standards and constraints imposed by the transportation authorities and to meet the technical specifications set by the car manufacturer, all within the established budget.

ASSIGNMENT

Kawasaki entrusted the development and manufacturing of the new seats (M9) to our customer Khrome Products Transport (KPT). 

In this traditional and highly regulated sector, the weight of the seats had to be reduced by 25% without increasing production costs.  Merkur was therefore entrusted with the design, the numerical simulation tests as well as the tests and validations in order to respect the specifications, the standards and safety constraints imposed by the transport authorities (APTA*) as well as the budgets set by Kawasaki.

*APTA : American Public Transportation Association. 

RESULTS

Compliance with safety standards and design criteria (APTA)

OBJECTIVE AND ACTIONS

Weight optimization of seats through design and numerical simulation expertise and on-time delivery.

The numerical simulation carried out beforehand made it possible to reduce the number of physical tests, which in itself represents a cost saving. Indeed, in this context, the numerical simulation quickly identified the stress concentration zones of the seats due to the different load cases. Beyond comfort, finish and resistance to vandalism, the recommendations made had an impact on the weight of the seats and their durability.

  • Reduction in the number of physical tests thanks to upstream digital simulation
  • Innovative solutions that meet performance and cost objectives
  • Support from design to physical validation of train seats

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Numerical simulation

Complete product development expertise

Methodology

Prototype

Testing conducted by a research and testing center, supervised by our engineers.

The M9 seats of the LIRR train are currently integrated in cars in service that are equipped with 41 seats each: they meet the current requirements of passenger car interiors where design and comfort prevail. 

Merkur

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