Guideway Camber and Three-Stage Passive Suspension for Improved Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle Ride Quality: Part II of a Parametric Study

1973 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-91
Author(s):  
S. B. Biggers

Two means of providing a high quality air cushion ride at high speed using simple passive suspension systems are investigated. The inclusion of the proper amount of camber in guideway beams is shown to greatly reduce both low and high speed heave accelerations. A three-stage passively suspended vehicle including two degrees of pitching motion is shown to eliminate the high speed peak in accelerations present with two-stage vehicles. The effects of secondary and tertiary damping, of the vehicle to span length ratio, and of guideway camber on the ride quality of this vehicle are investigated. Coupled with cambered guideway beams, the three-stage passive suspension system appears to be an attractive alternative to active suspension systems.

1979 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-331
Author(s):  
L. M. Sweet ◽  
H. C. Curtiss ◽  
R. A. Luhrs

A linearized model of the pitch-heave dynamics of a Tracked Ram Air Cushion Vehicle is presented. This model is based on aerodynamic theory which has been verified by wind tunnel and towed model experiments. The vehicle is assumed to be equipped with two controls which can be configured to provide various suspension system characteristics. The ride quality and dynamic motions of the fixed winglet vehicle moving at 330 km/hr over a guideway described by roughness characteristics typical of highways is examined in terms of the rms values of the vertical acceleration in the foremost and rearmost seats in the passenger cabin and the gap variations at the leading and trailing edges of the vehicle. The improvement in ride quality and dynamic behavior which can be obtained by passive and active suspension systems is examined and discussed. Optimal regulator theory is employed to design the active suspension system. The predicted rms values of the vertical acceleration in the one-third octave frequency bands are compared with the vertical ISO Specifications. It is shown that marked improvements in the ride quality can be obtained with either the passive or active suspension systems.


Author(s):  
N.M. Ghazaly ◽  
A.S Ahmed ◽  
A.S Ali ◽  
G.T Abd El- Jaber

In recent years, the use of active control mechanisms in active suspension systems has attracted considerable attention. The main objective of this research is to develop a mathematical model of an active suspension system that is subjected to excitation from different road profiles and control it using H∞ technique for a quarter car model to improve the ride comfort and road handling. Comparison between passive and active suspension systems is performed using step, sinusoidal and random road profiles. The performance of the H∞ controller is compared with the passive suspension system. It is found that the car body acceleration, suspension deflection and tyre deflection using active suspension system with H∞ technique is better than the passive suspension system.


Author(s):  
Dabin Cui ◽  
Boyang An ◽  
Paul Allen ◽  
Ruichen Wang ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
...  

During both running and wheel cut operations, wheels of railway vehicles and the friction rollers that support and drive the wheelset on a typical wheel cut lathe are subject to wear and hence are likely to develop out-of-round characteristics after sustained use. The resulting out-of-round wheels can significantly affect the ride quality and can potentially increase the incidence of fatigue-related component failures due to the resulting higher intensity loading cycles. Furthermore, the corresponding out-of-round characteristics of the lathe's friction rollers will continue to degrade the subsequent cut quality of wheels. For the analysis of the out-of-round characteristics caused by an underfloor wheel lathe used for the high-speed trains in China, a mathematical model based on a typical electric multiple unit (EMU) vehicle's wheelsets and their interactions with the wheel lathe friction rollers was established. Factors influencing the cut quality of the wheels, including the number of cuts, eccentricity forms of the friction rollers and the longitudinal spacing of the two rollers, have been analysed. The results show that two cuts can effectively remove the higher order polygon on the wheel surface. The eccentricity and phase angle of the friction rollers have no influence on the cut quality of higher order polygons, whereas they are the primary cause for the fourth-order polygons. The severity of the fourth-order polygon depends on the level and the phase of the eccentricity of the friction rollers. The space of the two rollers can also significantly affect the cut quality. Obtaining the theoretical and practical value for the maintenance of polygonised wheels using the underfloor lathe is the main outcome of this study.


2013 ◽  
Vol 448-453 ◽  
pp. 3696-3701
Author(s):  
Yan Bin He ◽  
Xin Zhong Li ◽  
Min Zhou

A phase-shifting algorithm, called a (4,4) algorithm, which takes four phase-shifting interferograms before a specimen is deformed and four interferograms after a specimen is deformed, is presented first. This method is most widely used for phase extraction. Its drawback limited it to be used in dynamic measurements. Also shown is an algorithm called a (4,1) algorithm that takes four phase-shifting interferograms before a specimen is deformed and one interferogram after a specimen is deformed. Because a high-speed camera can be used to record the dynamic interferogram of the specimen, this algorithm has the potential to retain the phase-shifting capability for ESPI in dynamic measurements. The quality of the phase map obtained using (4,1) algorithm is quite lower compared to using (4,4) algorithm. In order to obtain high-quality phase map in dynamic measurements, a direct-correlation algorithm was integrated with the (4,1) algorithm to form DC-(4,1) algorithm which is shown to improve significantly the quality of the phase maps. The theoretical and experimental aspects of this newly developed technique, which can extend ESPI to areas such as high-speed dynamic measurements, are examined in detail.


Author(s):  
Shenjin Zhu ◽  
Yuping He

The Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) technique has been applied to the design of active vehicle suspensions (AVSs) for improving ride quality and handling performance. LQG-based AVSs have achieved good performance if an accurate vehicle model is available. However, these AVSs exhibit poor robustness when the vehicle model is not accurate and vehicle operating conditions vary. The H∞ control theory, rooted in the LQG technique, specifically targets on robustness issues on models with parametric uncertainties and un-modelled dynamics. In this research, an AVS is designed using the H∞ loop-shaping control, design optimization, and parallel computing techniques. The resulting AVS is compared against the baseline design through numerical simulations.


Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Sharma ◽  
Anil Kumar

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.


1971 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Wilson ◽  
Sherrill B. Biggers

Trains of high speed air cushion vehicles traversing simple spans are modeled as uniform pressure segments traveling at arbitrary speeds over identical Bernoulli-Euler beams. Series solutions are found for the transient span and vehicle responses where the trains overlap several spans at a time. Elastic foundation, span tension, and span damping effects are included. Conclusions reached after studying some realistic numerical examples for constant-speed trains on elevated spans are: (a) for trains which are longer than one span length, the dynamic deflection factors (maximum ratios of dynamic to static deflection at midspan) approach 2.0 at speeds between 300 and 600 mph, and occur as the end of the train approaches, midspan; (b) these dynamic deflections may be reduced by the addition of damping, by a reduction of span length, by the addition of span tension, and by an increase in span stiffness; (c) the high vertical accelerations of the vehicles, which may approach 2 g’s at speeds of 300 mph, show the need for advanced suspension systems to insure passenger safety and comfort.


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