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On Active Suspension in Rail Vehicles
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, Rail Vehicles.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0875-3520
2017 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The topic of this PhD thesis is active suspension in rail vehicles whichis usually realized through sensors, controllers and actuation components.A well established example of an active suspension is the tiltingcontrol system used to tilt the carbody in curves to reduce centrifugalacceleration felt by passengers. Active suspension for rail vehicles is beingstudied since 1970s and in this PhD thesis it has been tried to expandon some aspects of this topic.This study extends the research field by both experimental and theoreticalstudies. In the first phase of the study which led to a licentiatedegree the focus was more on experimental work with active verticalsuspension (AVS). This was implemented by introducing actuators inthe secondary suspension of a Bombardier test train, Regina 250, in thevertical direction. The aim has been to improve vertical ride comfort bycontrolling bounce, pitch and roll motions.In the second phase after the licentiate, the studies have been moretheoretical and can be divided into two parts. The first part of the workhas been more focused on equipping two-axle rail vehicles with differentactive suspension solutions for improving the vehicle performanceregarding comfort and wheel-rail interaction. Three papers are writtenon active suspension for two-axle rail vehicles. Two of the papers discussthe use of H¥ control for wheelset guidance in curves to reducewheel-rail damage. The third paper shows that by use of active verticaland lateral suspension (AVS and ALS) in two-axle rail vehicles goodcomfort can be achieved as well. The paper then studies how the threeactive suspension systems (ALS, AVS, and ASW) interact once implementedtogether on a two-axle rail vehicle.The second part is a study on safety of active suspension systems.The study discusses a possible procedure to ensure that a designed activesuspension for a rail vehicle will be safe in all possible failure situations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm, Sweden: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2017. , p. 100
Series
TRITA-AVE, ISSN 1651-7660 ; 2017:32
Keywords [en]
active suspension, ride comfort, wear, skyhook control, H_infinity control, two-axle rail vehicle, safety
National Category
Vehicle Engineering
Research subject
Vehicle and Maritime Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-208184ISBN: 978-91-7729-408-5 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-208184DiVA, id: diva2:1104758
Public defence
2017-05-31, F3, Lindstedtsvägen 26, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Note

QC 20170602

Available from: 2017-06-02 Created: 2017-06-01 Last updated: 2022-12-12Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Preparation and Execution of On-track Tests with Active Vertical Secondary Suspension
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Preparation and Execution of On-track Tests with Active Vertical Secondary Suspension
2015 (English)In: The international Journal of railway technology, ISSN 2049-5358, E-ISSN 2053-602X, Vol. 4, no 1Article in journal (Other academic) Published
National Category
Vehicle Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-159568 (URN)10.4203/ijrt.4.1.2 (DOI)
Note

QS 2015

Available from: 2015-02-04 Created: 2015-02-04 Last updated: 2022-06-23Bibliographically approved
2. On-Track Tests of Active Vertical Suspension on a Passenger Train
Open this publication in new window or tab >>On-Track Tests of Active Vertical Suspension on a Passenger Train
2015 (English)In: Vehicle System Dynamics, ISSN 0042-3114, E-ISSN 1744-5159, Vol. 53, no 6, p. 798-811Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The classic way to design the suspension of a rail vehicle is to use passive elements such as dampers and springs; however, as sensors and actuators are getting more affordable and reliable, their potential benefit in the suspension system is increasingly studied. Active suspension can be used to keep ride comfort at an acceptable level or even improve it, while allowing tougher operation conditions or usage of lighter carbodies. Tougher conditions could be interpreted as higher speed or lower track quality, and lighter carbody means higher level of elastic vibrations. This paper is focused on the implementation and tests of active vertical suspension on the secondary suspension of a high-speed passenger electric multiple unit using hydraulic actuators and the skyhook method as the controller. Results from on-track tests indicate large ride comfort improvements.

Keywords
hydraulic actuator, skyhook control, active suspension, ride comfort, mode separation
National Category
Vehicle Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-159569 (URN)10.1080/00423114.2015.1015429 (DOI)000353498400005 ()2-s2.0-84928698727 (Scopus ID)
Note

QC 20150814. Updated from submitted to published.

Available from: 2015-02-04 Created: 2015-02-04 Last updated: 2022-06-23Bibliographically approved
3. IMPROVED CURVING PERFORMANCE FOR TWO-AXLE RAIL VEHICLES WITH ACTUATED SOLID WHEELSETS USING H-infinity CONTROL
Open this publication in new window or tab >>IMPROVED CURVING PERFORMANCE FOR TWO-AXLE RAIL VEHICLES WITH ACTUATED SOLID WHEELSETS USING H-infinity CONTROL
2016 (English)In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASME JOINT RAIL CONFERENCE, 2016, AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS , 2016Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Application of active suspension on passenger vehicles has engaged many vehicle dynamics specialists in recent years. The technology can be used for different purposes including improving comfort, stability or wear behavior. Despite these benefits, industries do not yet find these technologies attractive enough. One reason is that the achieved benefits do not pay back for itself since the vehicle will become more expensive. Therefore, more steps should be taken to make active suspension attractive. One such a step can be using active suspension for resolving classical limitations in rail vehicle dynamics. An example of this is a non-bogie rail vehicle with two axles. One of the problems associated with these vehicles is their short axle distance limiting the length of the vehicle. The short axle distance is partly for limiting wheel-rail wear. This paper describes how to reduce wheel wear through achieving better wheelset steering in curves so that longer axle distances can be allowed. Wheelset steering is performed by H-infinity control strategy.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, 2016
National Category
Vehicle Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-191036 (URN)10.1115/JRC2016-5775 (DOI)000380172900080 ()2-s2.0-84978917065 (Scopus ID)
Conference
2016 Joint Rail Conference, JRC 2016; Columbia; United States; 12 April 2016 through 15 April 2016
Note

QC 20160825

Available from: 2016-08-25 Created: 2016-08-23 Last updated: 2024-03-15Bibliographically approved
4. Wheelset Curving Guidance Using H_infinity Control
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Wheelset Curving Guidance Using H_infinity Control
(English)In: Vehicle System Dynamics, ISSN 0042-3114, E-ISSN 1744-5159Article in journal (Other academic) Submitted
Abstract [en]

This study shows how to design an active suspension system for guidance of a rail vehiclewheelset in curve. The main focus of the study is on designing the controller and afterwardsstudying its eect on the wheel wear behavior. The controller is designed based on theclosed-loop transfer function shaping method and H1 control strategy. The study discussesdesigning of the controller for both nominal and uncertain plants and considers both stabilityand performance. The designed controllers in Simulink are then applied to the vehicle modelin Simpack to study the wheel wear behavior in curve. The vehicle type selected for thisstudy is a two-axle rail vehicle. This is because this type of vehicle is known to have verypoor curving performance and high wheel wear. On the other hand, the relative simplerstructure of this type of vehicle compared to bogie vehicles make it a more economic choice.Hence, equipping this type of vehicle with the active wheelset steering is believed to show highenough benet to cost ratio to remain attractive to rail vehicle manufacturers and operators.

Keywords
active suspension, actuated solid wheelset (ASW), shaping closed-loop transfer function, H1 control, two-axle rail vehicle, wear
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-208183 (URN)
Note

QC 20170602

Available from: 2017-06-01 Created: 2017-06-01 Last updated: 2022-06-27Bibliographically approved
5. Active Lateral and Active Wheelset Steering Interference
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Active Lateral and Active Wheelset Steering Interference
2017 (English)In: International Conference on Rail Transportation, 2017 / [ed] Wanming Zhai, China, 2017Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Two-axle rail vehicles with only one level of suspension started operation in light traffic in the early 1930s. These vehicles were known to be cheap, light, and easy to maintain which made them suitable for parsley populated regional traffic. However, their limitations prevailed over their advantages which finally led to the extinction of these vehicles. These limitations were poor wheel-rail interaction, low capacity, and low comfort. Poor wheel-rail interaction which led to high wear and squeal noise on curves and low hunting speed on straight track was one of the major drawbacks. KTH rail vehicle division suggests reviving the old two-axle rail vehicle and improving its performance by introducing active suspension systems. Studies so far include improving ride comfort by active lateral and vertical suspension and active wheelset steering to improve curving and reduce wear. However, wheelset steering is not yet implemented together with active lateral and vertical suspension. Implementing them together can cause that the systems interfere in each other’s objectives. Hence it is necessary to study the interaction between the three systems. Results show that introducing active wheelset steering has a negative effect on the lateral comfort while active lateral suspension does not show significant effect on the wear performance of active wheelset steering. The study concludes that a vehicle with all the three active suspension systems included can improve all the three intended performances (lateral-vertical comfort and wheel wear) compared to the passive vehicle.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
China: , 2017
Keywords
active suspension; active lateral suspension (ALS); active vertical suspension (AVS); actuated solid wheelset (ASW); comfort; wear
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Research subject
Vehicle and Maritime Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-208182 (URN)
Conference
 International Conference on Rail Transportation, 2017
Note

QC 20210225

Available from: 2017-06-01 Created: 2017-06-01 Last updated: 2024-03-15Bibliographically approved
6. Proposal for systematic studies of active suspension failures in rail vehicles
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Proposal for systematic studies of active suspension failures in rail vehicles
2018 (English)In: Proceedings of the Institution of mechanical engineers. Part F, journal of rail and rapid transit, ISSN 0954-4097, E-ISSN 2041-3017, Vol. 232, no 1, p. 199-213Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Application of active suspensions in high-speed passenger trains is gradually getting more and more common. Active suspensions are primarily aimed at improving ride comfort, wear or stability. Failure of these systems may not only just deteriorate the performance but it may also put vehicle safety at risk. There are not many studies that explain how a thorough study proving safety of active suspension should be performed. Therefore, initiating this type of study is necessary for not only preventing incidences but also for assuring acceptance of active suspension by rail vehicle operators and authorities. This study proposes a flowchart for systematic studies of active suspension failures in rail vehicles. The flowchart steps are solidified by using failure mode and effects analysis and fault tree analysis techniques and also acceptance criteria from the EN14363 standard. Furthermore, six failure modes are introduced which are very general and their use can be extended to other studies of active suspension failure. In the last section of the paper, the proposed flowchart is put into practice through four failure examples of active vertical suspension.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2018
Keywords
Active suspension, failure analysis, FMEA, FTA, EN14363 standard, high-speed trains, active vertical suspension
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Research subject
Vehicle and Maritime Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-208181 (URN)10.1177/0954409716663583 (DOI)000419833100014 ()2-s2.0-85040364037 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Transport Administration
Note

QC 20180122

Available from: 2017-06-01 Created: 2017-06-01 Last updated: 2024-03-15Bibliographically approved

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