RAILWAY VEHICLE ACTIVE SUSPENSIONS

This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of active suspensions for use on railway vehicles. The primary focus of the paper is on ride quality control, both vertical and lateral, and on lateral stability control. The section on theoretical considerations summarizes the results of a one-degree of freedom optimization and then investigates analytically the use of active suspensions for lateral ride and stability augmentation. It is shown that separate control structures using different measurements and actuator actions are very effective in controlling both ride quality and stability. A section on a survey of current activities reviews published research on active railway suspension work around the world. Finally a concluding section indicates future trends in active suspension applications.