Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation for Active Control of Tramcars With Independently Rotating Wheels

Abstract

The wheelset is an important part that affects the dynamics of railway vehicles. The main purpose of the wheelset is to solve the problem of stability, curve performance, comfort, and wear. A conventional railway vehicle adopts rigid-axle wheelset (RW) due to the self-centering mechanism. On the other hand, independently rotating wheels (IRWs) have not been widely applied in the railway industry, since they do not generate any self-centering mechanism. It creates excessive wear, and derailment may occur. However, the IRWs have excellent curving performance compared with the RWs, and it enables realizing a low-floor structure that is convenient for passengers to get on and off. The recent active control technology has made it possible to generate a centering force in the IRWs. There are still many obstacles for the practical use of this technology, and it is necessary to verify the control strategies through various test methods. In this paper, an analytical model is derived, and an active control strategy is studied. To verify the validity of the active control strategy, a novel hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) configuration using a real-time model and a motor-generator set are proposed. INDEX TERMSActive control, hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS), motor control, independently rotating wheels (IRWs), railway vehicle, rigid-axle wheelset (RW).

A novel anti-slip control approach for railway vehicles with traction based on adhesion estimation with swarm intelligence

“…The main problem for these vehicles is that their curving ability and stability is worse than the ones with solid axle wheelsets due to lack of yaw moments and restoring lateral forces. In order to overcome this issue, several controllers are proposed for IRW in the literature [61][62][63][64]. Either active elements [61,63] or individual torque control for wheels [62,64] are considered for this purpose.…”

“…In order to overcome this issue, several controllers are proposed for IRW in the literature [61][62][63][64]. Either active elements [61,63] or individual torque control for wheels [62,64] are considered for this purpose. In addition, integration of both individual torque control and active elements was investigated [61].…”

Active suspension in railway vehicles: a literature survey

“…A different approach was chosen by Oh et al [159]. Instead of developing a scaled model of the vehicle, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) approach is used to study the real-time behaviour of a full-scale wheel motor.…”

“…The Fig. 35 Hardware-in-the-loop test configuration [159] same authors designed the wheel motor armature windings to improve the motor performance [160,161].…”

Development and verification of individual motor control technology to improve the driving performance of independently rotating wheel type railway vehicle using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) Simulator

“…In the case of railroad vehicles, HIL simulator has been actively applied to reduce the risk of developing new technologies and applying them to actual vehicles to verify performance. [25][26][27][28] HIL simulator are often used to evaluate real-world development or controller prototypes using fast computing devices and highly reliable real-time analysis models. To construct HIL simulation for verification of individual motor torque control technology to improve the driving performance of railroad vehicles using the independently rotating wheelset proposed in this paper, it is necessary to secure highly reliable realtime vehicle analysis model.…”