A COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON LATERAL STABILITY AND STEADY-STATE CURVING BEHAVIOR OF UNCONVENTIONAL RAIL TRUCK MODELS

Conventional railway vehicle systems exhibit hunting phenomena which increases component wear and imposes operating speed limits. There is also a conflict between dynamic stability and the ability of the vehicle to steer around curves. Alternatively, independently rotating wheels (IRW) in a wheelset eliminate hunting but the wheelset guidance capability is lost. A compromise solution is made possible by a modified design that exploits a lack of fore-and-aft symmetry in the suspension design. A comparative study on steady state curving performance and dynamic stability of some unconventional truck designs is carried out. The effects of suspension and conicity are considered to evaluate the trade-off between dynamic stability and curving performance.