Fatigue research of metro car body based on operational loads

Purpose–The principle of infinite life design currently directs fatigue resistance strategies for metro car bodies.However,this principle might not fully account for the dynamic influence of operational loads and the inevitable presence of defects.This study aims to integrate methods of service life estimation and residual life assessment,which are based on operational loads,into the existing infinite life verification framework to further ensure the operational safety of subway trains.Design/methodology/approach–Operational loads and fatigue loading spectra were determined through the field test.The material test was conducted to investigate characteristics of the fracture toughness and the crack growth rate.The fatigue strength of the metro car body was first verified using the finite element method and Moore–Kommers–Japer diagrams.The service life was then estimated by applying the Miner rule and high-cycle fatigue curves in a modified form of the Basquin equation.Finally,the residual life was assessed utilizing a fracture assessment diagram and a fitted curve of crack growth rate adhered to the Paris formula.Findings–Neither the maximum utilization factor nor the cumulative damage exceeds the threshold value of 1.0,the metro car body could meet the design life requirement of 30 years or 6.6 million km.However,three out of five fatigue key points were significantly influenced by the operational loads,which indicates that a single fatigue strength verification cannot achieve the infinite life design objective of the metro car body.For a projected design life of 30 years,the tolerance depth is 12.2 mm,which can underscore a relatively robust damage tolerance capability.Originality/value–The influence of operational loads on fatigue life was presented by the discrepancy analysis between fatigue strength verification results and service life estimation results.The fracture properties of butt-welded joints were tested and used for the damage tolerance assessment.The damage tolerance life can be effectively related by a newly developed equation in this study.It can be a valuable tool to provide the theoretical guidance and technical support for the structural improvements and maintenance decisions of the metro car body.

Estimation of speed-related car body acceleration limits with quantile regression

Purpose–This study aimed to facilitate a rapid evaluation of track service status and vehicle ride comfort based on car body acceleration.Consequently,a low-cost,data-driven approach was proposed for analyzing speed-related acceleration limits in metro systems.Design/methodology/approach–A portable sensing terminal was developed to realize easy and efficient detection of car body acceleration.Further,field measurements were performed on a 51.95-km metro line.Data from 272 metro sections were tested as a case study,and a quantile regression method was proposed to fit the control limits of the car body acceleration at different speeds using the measured data.Findings–First,the frequency statistics of the measured data in the speed-acceleration dimension indicated that the car body acceleration was primarily concentrated within the constant speed stage,particularly at speeds of 15.4,18.3,and 20.9 m/s.Second,resampling was performed according to the probability density distribution of car body acceleration for different speed domains to achieve data balance.Finally,combined with the traditional linear relationship between speed and acceleration,the statistical relationships between the speed and car body acceleration under different quantiles were determined.We concluded the lateral/vertical quantiles of 0.8989/0.9895,0.9942/0.997,and 0.9998/0.993 as being excellent,good,and qualified control limits,respectively,for the lateral and vertical acceleration of the car body.In addition,regression lines for the speedrelated acceleration limits at other quantiles(0.5,0.75,2s,and 3s)were obtained.Originality/value–The proposed method is expected to serve as a reference for further studies on speedrelated acceleration limits in rail transit systems.

A strategy for lightweight designing of a railway vehicle car body including composite material and dynamic structural optimization

Rolling stock manufacturers are finding structural solutions to reduce power required by the vehicles,and the lightweight design of the car body represents a possible solution.Optimization processes and innovative materials can be combined in order to achieve this goal.In this framework,we propose the redesign and optimization process of the car body roof for a light rail vehicle,introducing a sandwich structure.Bonded joint was used as a fastening system.The project was carried out on a single car of a modern tram platform.This preliminary numerical work was developed in two main steps:redesign of the car body structure and optimization of the innovated system.Objective of the process was the mass reduction of the whole metallic structure,while the constraint condition was imposed on the first frequency of vibration of the system.The effect of introducing a sandwich panel within the roof assembly was evaluated,focusing on the mechanical and dynamic performances of the whole car body.A mass saving of 63%on the optimized components was achieved,corresponding to a 7.6%if compared to the complete car body shell.In addition,a positive increasing of 17.7%on the first frequency of vibration was observed.Encouraging results have been achieved in terms of weight reduction and mechanical behaviour of the innovated car body.

Application of Hot Forming High Strength Steel Parts on Car Body in Side Impact

Lightweight structure is an important method to increase vehicle fuel efficiency. High strength steel is applied for replacing mild steel in automotive structures to decrease thickness of parts for lightweight. However, the lightweight structures must show the improved capability for structural rigidity and crash energy absorption. Advanced high strength steels are attractive materials to achieve higher strength for energy absorption and reduce weight of vehicles. Currently, many research works focus on component level axial crash testing and simulation of high strength steels. However, the effects of high strength steel parts to the impact of auto body are not considered. The goal of this research is to study the application of hot forming high strength steel（HFHSS） in order to evaluate the potential using in vehicle design for lightweight and passive safety. The performance of HFHSS is investigated by using both experimental and analytical techniques. In particular, the focus is on HFHSS which may have potential to enhance the passive safety for lightweight auto body. Automotive components made of HFHSS and general high strength steel（GHSS） are considered in this study. The material characterization of HFHSS is carried out through material experiments. The finite element method, in conjunction with the validated model is used to simulate the side impact of a car with GHSS and HFHSS parts according to China New Car Assessment Programme（C-NCAP） crash test. The deformation and acceleration characteristics of car body are analyzed and the injuries of an occupant are calculated. The results from the simulation analyses of HFHSS are compared with those of GHSS. The comparison indicates that the HFHSS parts on car body enhance the passive safety for the lightweight car body in side impact. Parts of HFHSS reduce weight of vehicle through thinner thickness offering higher strength of parts. Passive safety of lightweight car body is improved through reduction of crash deformation on car body by the application of HFHSS parts. The experiments and simulation are conducted to the HFHSS parts on auto body. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the application of HFHSS materials on automotive components for improved capability of passive safety and lightweight.

Design of lightweight magnesium car body structure under crash and vibration constraints

Car body design in view of structural performance and lightweighting is a challenging task due to all the performance targets that must be satisfied such as vehicle safety and ride quality.In this paper,material replacement along with multidisciplinary design optimization strategy is proposed to develop a lightweight car body structure that satisfies the crash and vibration criteria while minimizing weight.Through finite element simulations,full frontal,offset frontal,and side crashes of a full car model are evaluated for peak acceleration,intrusion distance,and the internal energy absorbed by the structural parts.In addition,the first three fundamental natural frequencies are combined with the crash metrics to form the design constraints.The wall thicknesses of twenty-two parts are considered as the design variables.Latin Hypercube Sampling is used to sample the design space,while Radial Basis Function methodology is used to develop surrogate models for the selected crash responses at multiple sites as well as the first three fundamental natural frequencies.A nonlinear surrogate-based optimization problem is formulated for mass minimization under crash and vibration constraints.Using Sequential Quadratic Programming,the design optimization problem is solved with the results verified by finite element simulations.The performance of the optimum design with magnesium parts shows significant weight reduction and better performance compared to the baseline design.

Improved lateral-dynamics-intended railway vehicle model involving nonlinear wheel/rail interaction and car body flexibility

To study the vehicle hunting behavior and its coupling with car body vibrations,a simplified lateral-dynamics-intended railway vehicle model is developed.A two-truck vehicle is modeled as a 17 degrees-of-freedom rigid system,into which the car body flexural vibrations of torsion and bending modes are further integrated.The wheel/rail interaction employs a real-time calculation for the Hertzian normal contact,in which the nonlinear curvatures of wheel and rail profiles are presented as functions of wheelset lateral movement and/or yaw rotation.Then the tangential/creep forces are analytically expressed as the Hertzian contact patch geometry,and lead to a continuous and fast calculation compared to a look-up table interpolation.It is shown that the hunting frequencies of the vehicle model and a truck model differ significantly,which verifies the necessity of the whole vehicle model.In the case of low wheel/rail conicity,the hunting frequency increases linearly with vehicle speed,whereas it rises slowly at high speed for a large conicity.Comparison of hunting frequency and damping ratio between various conicities shows that first hunting(car body hunting)may occur when the vehicle is operated at a low speed in a small conicity case,while a second hunting(truck hunting)appears when the vehicle is operated at a high speed in a large conicity case.Stability analysis of linear and nonlinear vehicle models was carried out through coast down method and constant speed simulations.Results tell that the linear one overestimates the lateral vibrating.Whereas the structural vibrations of car body can be ignored in the stability analysis.Compared to existing simplified models for hunting stability study,the proposed simplified vehicle model released limitations in the nonlinear geometries of wheel/rail profiles,and it is suitable for a frequency-domain analysis by deriving the analytical expressions of the normal and tangential wheel/rail contact forces.

Test technology research and fatigue damage prediction of a car body based on dynamic simulation load spectrum

The dynamic model of a high-speed electric multiple unit(EMU)is established based on the theory of rigid-flexible coupling multi-body system dynamics.Depending on the actual operating conditions of the vehicle,there are a variety of conditions of car body load-time history.We assess ineffective amplitude omission,load spectrum extrapolation,and extreme determination through the car body load-time history,and then obtain the car body fatigue load block spectrum.Finally,we perform a fatigue strength test on the whole car body on a car body fatigue test bench.It is shown that the accelerations of the three directions of the vehicle car body increase with increasing speed.When the train passes a curve,the lateral acceleration average becomes greater.There is also an increase in the car body accelerations in three directions when the train goes through a turnout or twisted line.Under the condition of a failed spring,the vertical acceleration of the car body is obviously increased.Anti-yaw damper failure will cause a significant increase in vehicle lateral acceleration.The failure of lateral and vertical dampers on the second suspension causes an insignificant acceleration increase in three directions.The car body acceleration increases the wear-type profile relative to the original profile in various working and speed level conditions a little.The influence on the damage of vehicle car body under various working conditions is predicted according to the obtained load spectrum.

The Application of HSLA Steel on Car Body

The role on improving the fuel economy and vehicle safety of HSLA steel was outlined.The application of HSLA steel on car body home and abroad was briefly introduced.

Fatigue test loading methodfor wagon body basedon measured load

Purpose–In this paper,the C80 special coal gondola car was taken as the subject,and the load test data of the car body at the center plate,side bearing and coupler measured on the dedicated line were broken down to generate the random load component spectrums of the car body under five working conditions,namely expansion,bouncing,rolling,torsion and pitching according to the typical motion attitude of the car body.Design/methodology/approach–On the basis of processing the measured load data,the random load component spectrums were equivalently converted into sinusoidal load component spectrums for bench test based on the principle of pseudo-damage equivalence of load.Relying on the fatigue and vibration test bench of the whole railway wagon,by taking each sinusoidal load component spectrum as the simulation target,the time waveform replication(TWR)iteration technology was adopted to create the drive signal of each loading actuator required for the fatigue test of car body on the bench,and the drive signal was corrected based on the equivalence principle of measured stress fatigue damage to obtain the fatigue test loads of car body under various typical working conditions.Findings–The fatigue test results on the test bench were substantially close to the measured test results on the line.According to the results,the relative error between the fatigue damage of the car body on the test bench and the measured damage on the line was within the range of
16.03%–27.14%.Originality/value–The bench test results basically reproduced the fatigue damage of the key parts of the car body on the line.

Modeling and simulation of railway vehicle vertical dynamic behavior by considering the effect of passenger-carbody coupling vibration

In order to reflect the vertical random vibration characteristics of railway vehicles more truly and effectively,this paper regards the human body as a single-degree-of-freedom system attached to the bottom of the carriage,and establishes a vertical dynamic model of railway vehicles by considering the influence of the coupling vibration effect between the passenger and the car body.The correctness of the model is verified by the real vehicle test.Then,the influence of the passengers on the vertical vibration characteristics of railway vehicles is analyzed,and the influence of the railway vehicle vibration on the vertical vibration characteristics of passengers is discussed in this paper.The research made in this paper can provide an effective model reference for the analysis of the vertical random vibration characteristics of railway vehicles and passengers,and for the optimization design of the suspension system parameters.

Success Story of Market Exploration of New Technology in China

Market exploration is always not easy. That of tailored-blank technology in China can not be an exception. After taking over the marketing and sales job of Andritz Soutec products, I spent the first 2 years promoting and pushing just the application of Tailored-blank technology. When the first project came, we unfortunately were confronting tough and ＂asymmetrical＂ competition. Even the management of Andritz Soutec intended to give up. My choice was ＂to still fight＂. After perseverance and great efforts, we finally concluded the first contract in China. As the Chinese saying goes ＂A good beginning is half of the success.＂ In the over 10 years after that, 57 Andritz Soutec Tailored-blank laser welding lines were sold in China market, which represents over 2/3 market share. For me it is one of the most successful stories.

Innovative Electric Vehicle Body Design Based on Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Side Impact Conditions

A version of an electric vehicle was developed and designed for the US market on the basis of the required domestic body structure.When compared with the original car,the new car body design leads to two major technical difficulties.First,the installation of high-voltage components such as the battery pack and other new energy sources increases the vehicle weight and occupies a great deal of its structural space;this limits the impact paths and the use of traditional structural designs,which greatly increases the design difficulty.Second,the USA,as an advanced automobile-using country,has well-developed laws and regulations for collision standards,vehicle operating conditions and evaluation standards.Using a combination of butterfly diagram analysis,bending moment management,section forces and other computer-aided simulation and analysis techniques,this paper presents a body structure design that can achieve a“GOOD”evaluation under the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety(IIHS)side impact body structure conditions by optimizing the force transfer path,the B-pillar deformation mode and the threshold support structure.The threshold support structure supports realization of the“GOOD”rating for IIHS side impact and helps the body to meet the crash requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS214 and the US New Car Assessment Program(NCAP)requirements for side impact at 32 km/h and 75°angular pole impact.