A numerical model to predict three-dimensional interaction dynamic of low-medium-speed maglev vehicle-guideway bridge system

This paper established a numerical model to investigate the dynamic behavior of LMS (low-medium-speed) maglev vehicle-guideway bridge coupling system. In this model, the vehicle was simulated as a 3D (3-dimensional) multi-rigid body with 45 DOFs (degree of freedoms), and the guideway bridge was built through finite element method. Two-dimensional magnet-guideway relationship was introduced, and the control strategies of active suspension control based on PID controller and passive guidance control were employed to reflect the vehicle-guideway interaction. A solution program was then developed to solve the vehicle-guideway interaction problem. Through case study, the vibration responses achieved from 3D interaction model were compared to those from corresponding 2D (2-dimensional) model. Besides, the effects of pier and guideway irregularity on dynamic responses of vehicle-guideway bridge coupling system were investigated, and the frequency responses of vehicle and guideway were also analyzed. The result shows that ignoring the pier modeling or guideway irregularity would significantly undervalue the vibration responses of maglev vehicle-guideway bridge interaction system. The frequency responses indicate that the vibrations of vehicle-guideway bridge system are significantly related to the geometric dimensions of maglev vehicle, especially the distance between two magnet units. Finally, parametric study was carried out to determine the effects of key parameters (i.e., vehicle speed and natural frequency of guideway) on guideway responses.