Reducing wheel–rail surface damage by incorporating hydraulic damping in the Bogie primary suspension

C. Qu, Y. Li, J. Z. Jiang, G. J. Tucker, S. A. Neild, M. C. Smith, A. Gleeson, S. Odetunde, Y. Muhamedsalih

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Wheel–rail surface damage in curves can be effectively reduced with a lower vehicle Primary Yaw Stiffness (PYS), while lowering PYS is detrimental to ride comfort and vehicle stability. This trade-off can be addressed by integrating hydraulic damping into primary suspension. However, work in this area only concentrated on comparing the effects of specific devices–the full potential of the hydraulic-damping-integrated primary suspension on combating the trade-off considering the whole parameter space is still unknown. Here we address this by making the following two contributions: (1) fully exploring the potential of hydraulic-damping-integrated primary suspension, on minimising the PYS while maintaining ride comfort; (2) systematically investigating the trade-off between the PYS reduction and suspension stroke requirement. Based on a case study using the Mark 4 Coach, this paper found that the optimal hydraulic-damping-integrated suspension can reduce PYS by 97% over the default without worsening comfort. This large reduction can potentially lead to a significant lifetime wheel-rail maintenance cost saving of approximately £42M for the fleet. If a larger suspension stroke is allowed, more cost saving can be achieved. These results provide motivation to conduct detailed engineering design studies to further examine the trade-off between financial benefits and design complexity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1916-1936
Number of pages21
JournalVehicle System Dynamics
Volume61
Issue number8
Early online date6 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2023

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