Ride comfort of a higher speed rail vehicle using a magnetorheological suspension system

Abstract

In a railway vehicle, vibrations are generated due to the interaction between wheel and track. To evaluate the effect of vibrations on the ride quality and comfort of a passenger vehicle, the Sperling's ride index method is frequently adopted. This paper focuses on the feasibility of improving the ride quality and comfort of railway vehicles using semiactive secondary suspension based on magnetorheological fluid dampers. Equations of vertical, pitch and roll motions of car body and bogies are developed for an existing rail vehicle. Moreover, nonlinear stiffness and damping functions of passive suspension system are extracted from experimental data. In view of improvement in the ride quality and comfort of the rail vehicle, a magnetorheological damper is integrated in the secondary vertical suspension system. Parameters of the magnetorheological damper depend on current, amplitude and frequency of excitations. Three semi-active suspension strategies with magnetorheological damper are analysed at different running speeds and for periodic track irregularity. The performance indices calculated at different semi-active strategies are juxtaposed with the nonlinear passive suspension system. Simulation results establish that magnetorheological damper strategies in the secondary suspension system of railway vehicles reduce the vertical vibrations to a great extent compared to the existing passive system. Moreover, they lead to improved ride quality and passenger comfort.

Semiactive Control of High‐Speed Railway Vehicle Suspension Systems with Magnetorheological Dampers

“…Typically, the quarter car model is used only to research methods of improving the ride comfort of passengers because of its simple structure, and half-car and full-car models are used to characterize other types of dynamic performance, such as lateral stability and running safety. However, most research attention is placed on improving ride comfort or reducing the vibration of the car body, and other dynamics of performance of railway vehicles are typically neglected, although they are important [8][9][10]. For a running railway vehicle, the most important performance aspect should be safety, particularly when the railway vehicle is running on a curved track.…”

Design and Simulation of a Railway Vehicle for the Transport of People with Reduced Mobility

“…In order to keep into account the torsional stiffness of the antiroll bar, this has been modeled using two bodies connected to each other by means of a bushing element; see Figure 6. The torsional stiffness of the bar can be calculated according to Table 5 shows the values of the quantities used in (2). The mass of the links has been neglected and they have been modeled as point to point forces applied at the extremities of the antiroll bar.…”

“…The first solution [2,3] allows faster simulations but neglects the coach flexibility that can affect the ride quality of the vehicle. In the last years, more lightweight carbodies have been developed with the purpose to reduce the axle-load and to increase the energetic performance of the vehicle.…”

Dynamic Response and Fuzzy Control of Half-Car High-Speed Train and Bridge Interaction

“…Conventional passive suspension systems are not capable of the improvement of high-speed train with the accelerating of the railway speed. The semi-active suspension of vehicles uses the damping components that can be controlled and the closed loop control system [11][12][13][14], which can regulate the damping force according to the feedback signals generated by the lateral acceleration of the car body, so that the damping suspension stay in the best condition and improve the stability of high-speed train. Therefore, well-designed semi-active suspension system is an effective approach to decrease the vibration of the vehicle and improve the vehicle's stability.…”