Development of the method and analysis for non-linear lateral stability of railway vehicles in a curved track

Abstract

This article is the authors’ most recent publication on railway vehicle lateral stability in a curved track. Developed procedures constitute the original and mature method of stability analysis, which is presented here. The method is based on the analysis of bifurcation plots built as a result of numerical simulations for a wide range of curve radii and straight track, as well. Despite the development of the method, new areas of its application are presented. These are studies on the influence of various factors on the stability. These factors apply to the variation of vehicle suspension parameters, wheel–rail profiles, and wear of the wheel–rail profiles in terms of both the magnitude and the type. Also, new forms of result presentation have been employed.

Keywords:

• Stability
• Bifurcation
• Numerical simulation
• Rail vehicle
• Curved track

Acknowledgements

This scientific work was financed as a research project from funds of The Ministry of Science and Information Society Technologies, Warsaw, Poland in the years 2004–2006.