Ride comfort analysis of high-speed rail vehicle using laminated rubber isolator based secondary suspension

In this paper, a dynamic model with 13 degrees of freedom is developed with the dynamic models of air suspension systems to study the performance of high-speed passenger vehicles' suspension systems in a deflated state. Sperling's ride index method is used to assess the influence of vibration on ride comfort and quality. This study focuses on the modelling of the air spring with a laminated rubber isolator. Equations for the bounce, pitch, and roll motion of the car's body and bogies have been developed. It has been observed that the shear spring rate of the laminated rubber spring does not depend on the geometry because the shear modulus is not a function of geometry, whereas the compression modulus is strongly affected by the geometry of the design. Therefore, the negative impact due to the vertical irregularities of the track is considered in this study. From the results, it can be concluded that the vehicle should move at a slower speed when the air spring is deflated to maintain passenger comfort.