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The influence of vehicle-track dynamic coupling on the fatigue failure of coil springs within the primary suspension of metro vehicles

The influence of vehicle-track dynamic coupling on the fatigue failure of coil springs within the primary suspension of metro vehicles
The influence of vehicle-track dynamic coupling on the fatigue failure of coil springs within the primary suspension of metro vehicles
Steel coil springs are commonly used in the primary suspension of rail vehicles, usually in the form of two concentric springs. They exhibit strong internal resonances, which can lead to high vibration amplitudes within the spring itself. In some metro vehicles, large numbers of spring failures have occurred due to fatigue fracture in working conditions. The cause of these failures is investigated by studying the vehicle/track interaction, the modal response of the coil springs and the stresses occurring within them in working conditions. A finite element model is used to determine the modal parameters of the primary suspension. The resulting dynamic stiffness matrix is then included in a multi-body vehicle model and coupled to a model of the track. This coupled model is used to investigate the effect of the dynamic properties of both the springs and the track on the stresses in the springs. The springs exhibit strong internal resonances at around 50-60 Hz, at which very large stresses occur in both springs. This frequency range coincides with the P2 resonance frequency (wheelset mass bouncing on the track stiffness) for the standard slab track system used on this metro system. For other track systems, the P2 resonance occurs at a different frequency and the stresses are lower. These results are confirmed with field test data. From the stresses the weakest position in the inner spring is identified, which is found to correspond to the position of common breakages found in field observations. Some guidelines are proposed for reducing the vibration and stress, so that the fatigue fracture incidents can be reduced.
metro vehicle, coil springs, vehicle-track dynamics, resonance frequency, dynamic stiffness, fatigue analysis
0042-3114
Sun, Wenjing
a898a7c8-d750-4eec-86de-9b3725a68a20
Thompson, David
bca37fd3-d692-4779-b663-5916b01edae5
Zhou, Jinsong
5302ef52-fd22-4b4d-baa6-3c640dd17f17
Sun, Wenjing
a898a7c8-d750-4eec-86de-9b3725a68a20
Thompson, David
bca37fd3-d692-4779-b663-5916b01edae5
Zhou, Jinsong
5302ef52-fd22-4b4d-baa6-3c640dd17f17

Sun, Wenjing, Thompson, David and Zhou, Jinsong (2019) The influence of vehicle-track dynamic coupling on the fatigue failure of coil springs within the primary suspension of metro vehicles. Vehicle System Dynamics.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Steel coil springs are commonly used in the primary suspension of rail vehicles, usually in the form of two concentric springs. They exhibit strong internal resonances, which can lead to high vibration amplitudes within the spring itself. In some metro vehicles, large numbers of spring failures have occurred due to fatigue fracture in working conditions. The cause of these failures is investigated by studying the vehicle/track interaction, the modal response of the coil springs and the stresses occurring within them in working conditions. A finite element model is used to determine the modal parameters of the primary suspension. The resulting dynamic stiffness matrix is then included in a multi-body vehicle model and coupled to a model of the track. This coupled model is used to investigate the effect of the dynamic properties of both the springs and the track on the stresses in the springs. The springs exhibit strong internal resonances at around 50-60 Hz, at which very large stresses occur in both springs. This frequency range coincides with the P2 resonance frequency (wheelset mass bouncing on the track stiffness) for the standard slab track system used on this metro system. For other track systems, the P2 resonance occurs at a different frequency and the stresses are lower. These results are confirmed with field test data. From the stresses the weakest position in the inner spring is identified, which is found to correspond to the position of common breakages found in field observations. Some guidelines are proposed for reducing the vibration and stress, so that the fatigue fracture incidents can be reduced.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 7 July 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 July 2019
Keywords: metro vehicle, coil springs, vehicle-track dynamics, resonance frequency, dynamic stiffness, fatigue analysis

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 433715
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433715
ISSN: 0042-3114
PURE UUID: 738c6584-cec9-4977-82ee-c9814403a5dd
ORCID for David Thompson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7964-5906

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 02 Sep 2019 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:44

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Contributors

Author: Wenjing Sun
Author: David Thompson ORCID iD
Author: Jinsong Zhou

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