Wheelset control strategies for a two-axle railway vehicle

This paper studies actively controlled wheelsets for railway vehicles and explores the potential benefits from actively stabilisation and steering the wheelsets of a railway vehicle via a mechatronic approach. Two models are developed in the study for a two-axle railway vehicle, one with solid axles and the other with independently rotating wheelsets. A number of control schemes including optimal controllers, intuitively formulated controllers as well as modal control approaches are proposed. Both curving performance and ride quality of the vehicle are assessed for all control schemes.