Analytical and experimental studies on lateral dynamics of a railway vehicle moving on straight track

In this paper numerical simulation and experimental studies of the lateral dynamic behaviour of a railway vehicle are presented. A typical Indian railway vehicle of the Alternating Current /Electrical Multiple Unit /Trailer (AC/EMU/T) type running on broad gauge track has been chosen for the analysis. A 17 degree of freedom (dof) linear mathematical model of the vehicle has been formulated for the analysis. Kalker's creep theory is applied to evaluate the tangential contact forces acting between wheel and rail. Linear governing equations of motion of the vehicle on a straight track have been solved. Natural frequencies have been determined from the above mathematical model. A comprehensive study of the lateral stability of the railway vehicle has been performed. Dynamic response studies were carried out in the time domain for the vehicle moving on a straight track with the track alignment and gauge irregularities considered as input. Extensive experiments were carried out and analytical results are found to compare well with experimental results.