Secondary suspension of railway vehicles - air spring modelling: Performance and critical issues

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.

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A survey on the modelling of air springs – secondary suspension in railway vehicles

Vehicle System Dynamics ◽

10.1080/00423114.2020.1838566 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-30

Author(s):

I. Mendia-Garcia ◽

N. Gil-Negrete Laborda ◽

A. Pradera-Mallabiabarrena ◽

M. Berg

Keyword(s):

Railway Vehicles ◽

Secondary Suspension

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Safety Analysis for High Speed Bogie Technologies of CRH3 EMU

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.479-481.797 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 479-481 ◽

pp. 797-802

Author(s):

Shu Lin Liang ◽

Ren Luo ◽

Ping Bo Wu

Keyword(s):

High Speed ◽

High Property ◽

Air Spring ◽

Running Safety ◽

Suspension Systems ◽

Safety And Reliability ◽

Point Control ◽

Roller Rig ◽

Suspended Structure ◽

Secondary Suspension

The bogie technology of the 350km/h EMU train is one of the key parts for China high speed railways. Through analysis of the high speed bogy for CRH3 EMU train, the design conceptions and methodologies of the bogy structure and suspension systems are better understood. Technical procedures for the bogie design are carefully investigated, which includes the wheel/rail interaction, helical spring and high property rubber pad used in primary suspension, high flexible and large convolution bellows type air spring, anti-roll bar and two point control of air springs used in secondary suspension, and the elastic frame suspended structure used for traction motor. Comparison between different bogy techniques are carried out by using the dynamic simulation, roller rig test and field test, and the efficient way to raise the bogie running safety and reliability is analyzed.

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