This study describes the low damped carbody oscillations of the HEMU-430X, a high-speed electric-multiple-unit experimental train of Korea. The HEMU-430X had already undergone a kind of hunting problem in the test period, but it was effectively suppressed through several measures and the test was finished successfully. However, recently, the HEMU-430X again experienced the similar but slightly different problem after its wheel profile was changed to XP55, which is widely used in high-speed trains in Korea. In this paper, the eigenbehavior and system damping ratio are analyzed using a linearized vehicle model to more systematically investigate the cause of the carbody oscillation of the HEMU-430X. The results show that the bogie lateral movement coupled with carbody upper sway has the least damping ratio in the case of the HEMU-430X and the magnitude of yaw directional constraints of the bogie plays an important role in causing the carbody oscillation. Parametric studies for suspension, equivalent conicity and creep coefficients are carried out. A solution is suggested and it is validated using field tests.

Background: Active lateral suspension (ALS) technologies have been well developed for several decades, but they have not been widely used in service operation due to relatively high costs for implementation and maintenance and concerns about fail-safe. Therefore, this paper suggests a more practical approach for the active suspension system, designed to achieve target performance with easy implementation and maintenance and high fail-safe. Methods: The control performance target and actuator type are determined from the vibration energy that the ALS has to absorb along the weight function for ride quality evaluation. The installation position of actuator and sensor is decided to decrease the time that it takes for field engineers to check the actuator for maintenance. In addition to fail-safe function of ALS system, conventional hydraulic lateral damper is installed in parallel with ALS to reduce the concern about fail-safe of the ALS. Results: Through the roller rig and filed tests, the performance of the proposed ALS was validated. Lateral ride quality was improved 7.1dB and 6.7dB in the roller rig test and field test, respectively. The fail-safe strategy was also verified during the filed test. Conclusion: Test results show that the suggested ALS is designed appropriately and can be used in practical implementation.

Due to global warming, there is an increasing number of wind gusts that affect the stability of railway vehicles. A railway vehicle running on a curved track during a wind gust is subjected to multiple forces simultaneously, which include the centrifugal force and forces exerted by the wind gust and cant, and they significantly affect the vehicle’s dynamic characteristics as well as its safety. The forces increase the vibration of carbodies and the risk of derailment and overturning of cars; the effect is worse on irregular tracks. In order to review the phenomenon in detail, a 1/20 scale model of a railway vehicle was built to measure the aerodynamic coefficients in five directions—side force, lift force, roll moment, pitch moment, and yaw moment—through a wind tunnel test. The data collected were applied as external forces to a full-scale railway vehicle model traveling on a curved track. Using a multibody simulation software program, SIMPACK, a railway vehicle was modeled, which was then used in the simulation of the dynamic characteristics and safety of vehicles while traveling on a curved track during a wind gust. Using the actual measured track data from the curved zone, a comparison was made on the dynamic characteristics of the car traveling, with and without a wind gust, on a curved track with a railway curve radius of 599 m; also, the difference was analyzed with the direction of the wind gust blowing from inside and toward the center of curvature. The results showed that in the presence of a wind gust blowing from outside the curvature with an average speed of 25 m/s it is advisable to stop train services on grounds of safety.

In a subway vehicle, a lateral damper is used for compensating the lateral stiffness deterioration due to the air-spring as a secondary suspension. This lateral damper can reduce the lateral vibration of the carbody. When the damping force of the lateral damper is lowered, the running stability and ride quality of the subway vehicles worsens and the lateral motion of the carbody is increased. In this study, the lateral displacement variation of the carbody according to the damping force of the lateral damper was analyzed by multi-body dynamics to solve the abnormal impact problem during vehicle operation. Furthermore, the noise and vibration due to abnormal impact were considered. An adequate damping coefficient of the lateral damper for the subway vehicle treated in this paper was suggested for preventing abnormal impact.

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