Ride comfort of a higher speed rail vehicle using a magnetorheological suspension system

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.