Semi-active suspension systems for railway vehicles using magnetorheological dampers. Part II: simulation and analysis

Abstract

In this paper, the semi-active suspension system for railway vehicles based on the controlled (MR) fluid dampers is investigated, and compared with the passive on and passive off suspension systems. The lateral, yaw, and roll accelerations of the car body, trucks, and wheelsets of a full-scale railway vehicle integrated with four MR dampers in the secondary suspension systems, which are in the closed and open loops respectively, are simulated under the random and periodical track irregularities using the established governing equations of the railway vehicle and the modelled track irregularities in Part I of this paper. The simulation results indicate that (1) the semi-active controlled MR damper-based suspension system for railway vehicles is effective and beneficial as compared with the passive on and passive off modes, and (2) while the car body accelerations of the railway vehicle integrated with semi-active controlled MR dampers can be significantly reduced relative to the passive on and passive off ones, the accelerations of the trucks and wheelsets could be increased to some extent. However, the increase in the accelerations of the trucks and wheelsets is insignificant.

Keywords:

• railway vehicle
• suspension system
• magnetorheological fluid damper
• semi-active
• random track irregularities
• periodical track irregularities

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper has been supported by grants from the PROCORE – France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (Project No. CUHK4216/01E), the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong (Reference No. F-HK07/06T), and the Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.