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Papers by Emmanuel Matsika

Proceedings of the 31st European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2021), 2021

This paper details the process of conceptualising a number of innovative rail freight logistics s... more This paper details the process of conceptualising a number of innovative rail freight logistics solutions for the transportation of Low Density High Value (LDHV) goods within the European Union (EU). The concept works towards the European Commission's 2011 Transport White Paper objectives; to shift 30% of current road freight, transported over 300 km, to other modes, such as rail or waterborne transport, by 2030 and more than 50 % by 2050. This research combines qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods include interviews with logistics service providers. Quantitative methods incorporate a transport demand model and targeted online surveys. Five sets of requirements for the transport of LDHV goods by rail are identified as: market, operational, capacity management, cargo handling and vehicle. Identification of these requirements culminates in the formulation of a design brief for a logistics concept where freight railway vehicles run in conjunction with passenger vehicles supported by faster transhipment technologies for quicker door-to-door delivery of LDHV goods.

Sustainable Rail Transport 4, 2021

In modern times, trains have become one of the most popular modes of transportation. However, the... more In modern times, trains have become one of the most popular modes of transportation. However, there are still many problems to be solved, one of which is the gap issues between the platform and vehicle. Since the construction of the railway, the gap between the platform and the vehicle has been regarded as the main cause of fatality and weighted injury risk in the railway station. This project firstly investigates different solutions used all over the world that enable persons with reduced mobility (PRMs) to board independently. It applies mechanical engineering design principles, with strong input from primary and secondary data collected about the needs and preferences of PRMs. Finally, it then develops solutions of gap issues to reduce train dwell time, improve crowd flow and overall safety. An evaluation is conducted to select the most appropriate solution.

The enactment of the UK DDA 1995/2005 (now Equality Act 2010) and enforcement of the 2008 EC TSI ... more The enactment of the UK DDA 1995/2005 (now Equality Act 2010) and enforcement of the 2008 EC TSI for Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) (now TSI PRM 2014) have led to an increasing number of PRMs travelling by rail. Despite this, safety concerns exist as infrastructure managers and train operators adapt to new requirements for accessibility. For example, accidents which occur at the platform-train interface (PTI) can result in severe injuries.

World Congress on Railway Research (WCRR) 2013, 2013

Design-for-accessibility is becoming a global requirement. While much has been done to achieve hi... more Design-for-accessibility is becoming a global requirement. While much has been done to achieve high levels of accessibility in rail transportation, not much has been done to improve the safety of these vulnerable users in the event of heavy braking and, in a worse case, crash. The kinematics that ensues after the crash governs the secondary collision characteristics, injury mechanism and ultimately injury severity. Fundamental analytical understanding of the factors that influence crash occupant motion is required to ensure kinematics that has reasonable accuracy. This is key in providing well informed and accurate input data and establishing realistic boundary condition; particularly when commercial software is applied like a 'black box' without delving into the fundamental dynamics behaviour. The general wheelchair occupant kinematic model presented in this paper is initially based on the ideal condition for safety as applied in road vehicles. The data and information obta...

Whether considered as the purchase price or Life Cycle Cost (LCC), the overall cost of a railway ... more Whether considered as the purchase price or Life Cycle Cost (LCC), the overall cost of a railway vehicle is increasing. Many factors contribute to this increase, such as regulatory compliance, sustainability, advancement of technologies and user preferences. This paper presents results of a study that was aimed at conducting a cross-transport industry investigation of the commonalities in the processes of procurement, engineering design, manufacturing and maintenance (PDMM). It assesses the potential economic benefits of applying similar methodologies to the rail industry. Cost drivers in the rail industry that could be ameliorated by greater commonality and standardisation were identified and assessed. Best practices in the Aerospace, Automotive and Marine (AAM) industries were captured, adapted and applied to the rail industry to assess their potential for cost reduction. The recommendations from this study are beneficial to the railway industry through implementation in the railw...

International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2020

For a typical coach, interior seats and partitions are considered as secondary collision objects ... more For a typical coach, interior seats and partitions are considered as secondary collision objects in the event of a frontal collision. When a seat back has a deployable leaf-table, the additional ef...

Concurrent Engineering, 2018

Modular design of products can effectively reduce product development cycle with the idea of conc... more Modular design of products can effectively reduce product development cycle with the idea of concurrent engineering, the efficient management of module interface information in the design process is the premise and foundation for module sharing. This study aims to develop a methodology for interface information management in bus chassis modular design. The characteristics of module interfaces in mechanical design are firstly investigated by the comparison with USB interfaces. A digital expression method is then proposed to describe the characteristics of interface geometry information using two matrices with mapping relationships. An encoding method is then developed for the interface information management in modular design. Finally, the implementation of the above method was illustrated with a case study of an electric bus chassis modular design. Novelty of the research is to provide a methodology to represent the characteristics of interface in mechanical design through digital expression.

International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2014

ABSTRACT This paper presents results of computer numerical modelling of a wheelchair occupant dur... more ABSTRACT This paper presents results of computer numerical modelling of a wheelchair occupant during a railway vehicle crash for the baseline wheelchair seating condition. The baseline condition (baseline securement case) refers to the current practice in the EU where the wheelchair occupant is provided with a designated wheelchair space. However, the wheelchair is not secured and the occupant is not restrained. A numerical model of a wheelchair and occupant in a railway vehicle were developed and solved using LS-DYNA3D. Validation was achieved using experimental results. A crash pulse of about 5 g was applied to the virtual crash test sled in line with the European Commission (EC) requirements. For all crash tests to assess the potential injury severity, a Hybrid III 50th percentile male anthropometric test device (ATD) was applied. The initial conditions, boundary conditions and material characteristics were obtained from human factors studies, experimental tests and literature.

2013 Joint Rail Conference, 2013

In the past 25 years, laws related to accessibility in general have been enacted worldwide. In th... more In the past 25 years, laws related to accessibility in general have been enacted worldwide. In the United Kingdom, for example, with the passing of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995 and 2005, a number of regulations and codes of practice have been put in place to provide wheelchair users with greater access and freedom of traveling by public transport, including railway vehicles. This paper aims at contributing to the knowledge gap that exists on how human related factors may influence the safety of a wheelchair occupant in a railway vehicle during deceleration, particularly crash conditions. To achieve this, a socio-technical study on railway vehicle safety was conducted through a disability association called BADGE, acting as the gatekeeper. The research methodology developed applied two data collection research tools. The first was a focus group discussion in which six wheelchair users participated. The second tool was observational, where wheelchair users undertook...

Research in Transportation Economics, 2013

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 2012

ABSTRACT The newly updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 enhances the requirements of... more ABSTRACT The newly updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 enhances the requirements of the roof crush behaviour as it particularly focuses on the double-sided test protocol. This test will be mandatory from the year 2012 and will replace the single-sided test. The research presented herein aims at investigating the behaviour of a small European vehicle subjected to this newly updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 and at assessing the effect of the variation in the loading combination of the pitch angle and the roll angle on the roof crush strength to quantify the difference in the performances. A Ford Fiesta FE model developed at the University of Bolton was refined and validated against the roof crush test. Thereafter a full factorial method was employed to the design of the experiment based on varying the pitch angle and the roll angle. The response functions concerning the resistance force of the double-sided roof were hence constructed with the results from a series of virtual tests based on nine levels of the roll angle and four levels of the pitch angle. Parametric studies were then conducted with respect to the effects of the body structural components, the windscreen and the variations in the roll angle and the pitch angle on the roof strength. The results show that the roll angle and the pitch angle are functions of the roof strength. In general, the roof on the near side performs in a stronger way than the roof on the far side and greatly influences the overall collapse behaviour. Within a crush distance of 127 mm (5 in), the strengths on both sides of the roof decrease as the roll angle varies from 10° to 45°. The variation in the pitch angle influences the resistance force. In addition, the windscreen is found to contribute significantly to the roof strength on the far side, hence demonstrating a strength which is artificially high, not quantifiable and not observed in real-world rollover crashes. From the virtual parametric analysis carried out, it shows once again that the recommended loading-angle combinations in the newly updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 roof crush test should be a roll angle of 45° (and not 25°) and a pitch angle of 10° (and not 5°) for both near-side and far-side roof load application.

Transportation Research Procedia, 2016

With terrorist security of critical assets becoming a vital aspect of railway systems, this paper... more With terrorist security of critical assets becoming a vital aspect of railway systems, this paper reviews the existing international policy frameworks and also risk assessment methodologies. This information fed into development of a risk assessment methodology (RAMPART Methodology) specifically addressing metro and light rail systems (mass transit). The uniqueness lies in differentiating itself using the following nine factors and parameters: qualitative vs quantitative approach; detail (depth of data/information levels disaggregation); scope (e.g. what threats/assets/sector covered?); what is target user group (legislators, management, technocrats, etc); definition of asset criticality; degree of subjectivity in whole RA process; is resilience (countermeasures) included?; are interdependences included; and common taxonomy/terminology.