Question

A railcar with an overall mass of 78,000 kg traveling with a speed vi is approaching a barrier equipped with a bumper consisting of a nonlinear spring whose force vs. compression law is given by FS = βx3, where β = 640 × 106 N/m3 and x is the compression of the bumper. The compression of the bumper is limited to 20 cm. Treat the system as a particle and assume that the contact between the railcar and rails is frictionless.

Answer 1

Answer:

v₀ = 2,562 m / s  = 9.2 km/h

Explanation:

To solve this problem let's use Newton's second law

              F = m a = m dv / dt = m dv / dx dx / dt = m dv / dx v

              F dx = m v dv

We replace and integrate

            -β ∫ x³ dx = m ∫ v dv

            β x⁴/ 4 = m v² / 2

We evaluate between the lower (initial) integration limits v = v₀, x = 0 and upper limit v = 0 x = x_max

        -β (0- x_max⁴) / 4 = ½ m (v₀²2 - 0)

         x_max⁴ = 2 m /β   v₀²

         

Let's look for the speed that the train can have for maximum compression

         x_max = 20 cm = 0.20 m

         

         v₀ =√(β/2m)   x_max²

Let's calculate

          v₀ = √(640 106/2 7.8 104)    0.20²

          v₀ = 64.05  0.04

          v₀ = 2,562 m / s

          v₀ = 2,562 m / s (1lm / 1000m) (3600s / 1h)

          v₀ = 9.2 km / h