Longitudinal dynamics and energy analysis for heavy haul trains

Whole trip longitudinal dynamics and energy analysis of heavy haul trains are required by operators and manufacturers to enable optimisation of train controls and rolling stock components. A new technology named train dynamics and energy analyser/train simulator （TDEAS） has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Traction Power in China to perform detailed whole trip longitudinal train dynamics and energy analyses. Facilitated by a controller user interface and a graphic user interface, the TDEAS can also be used as a train driving simulator. This paper elaborates the modelling of three primary parts in the TDEAS, namely wagon connection systems, air brake systems and train energy components. TDEAS uses advanced wedge-spring draft gear models that can simulate a wider spectrum of friction draft gear behaviour. An effective and efficient air brake model that can simulate air brake systems in various train configurations has been integrated. In addition, TDEAS simulates the train energy on the basis of a detailed longitudinal train dynamics simulation, which enables a further perspective of the train energy composition and the overall energy consumption. To demonstrate the validity of the TDEAS, a case study was carried out on a 120-km-long Chinese railway. The results show that the employment of electric locomotives with regenerative braking could bring considerable energy benefits. Nearly 40 % of the locomotive energy usage could be collected from the dynamic brake system. Most of tractive energy was dissipated by propulsion resistance that accounted for 42.48 % of the total energy. Only a small amount of tractive energy was dissipated by curving resistance, air brake and draft gear systems.

Robust Fault-Tolerant Control for Longitudinal Dynamics of Aircraft with Input Saturation

A robust fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for the longitudinal dynamics of an aircraft with input saturation,using the anti-windup method and the fault detection observer technology.To estimate the system fault,a detection observer is designed for the longitudinal dynamics,and a fault-tolerant control law is developed to compensate for the fault effects of the longitudinal dynamics.Then,an anti-windup compensator is augmented into the fault-tolerant control law to eliminate the effect of input saturation.Using linear matrix inequality(LMI)technology,the detection observer based fault-tolerant controller is designed to ensure the stability of the closed-loop system and the convergence of the detection observer.Finally,the developed robust fault-tolerant control scheme is applied to the longitudinal model of an aircraft and simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Simulation of longitudinal dynamics of laser-cooled and RF-bunched C^3＋ ion beams at heavy ion storage ring CSRe

Laser cooling of Li-like C^3＋and O^4＋relativistic heavy ion beams is planned at the experimental Cooler Storage Ring（CSRe）. Recently, a preparatory experiment to test important prerequisites for laser cooling of relativistic^12C^3＋ion beams using a pulsed laser system has been performed at the CSRe. Unfortunately, the interaction between the ions and the pulsed laser cannot be detected. In order to study the laser cooling process and find the optimized parameters for future laser cooling experiments, a multi-particle tracking method has been developed to simulate the detailed longitudinal dynamics of laser-cooled ion beams at the CSRe. Simulations of laser cooling of the^12C^3＋ion beams by scanning the frequency of the RF-buncher or continuous wave（CW） laser wavelength have been performed. The simulation results indicate that ion beams with a large momentum spread could be laser-cooled by the combination of only one CW laser and the RF-buncher, and show the requirements of a successful laser cooling experiment. The optimized parameters for scanning the RF-buncher frequency or laser frequency have been obtained.Furthermore, the heating effects have been estimated for laser cooling at the CSRe. The Schottky noise spectra of longitudinally modulated and laser-cooled ion beams have been simulated to fully explain and anticipate the experimental results. The combination of Schottky spectra from the highly sensitive resonant Schottky pick-up and the simulation methods developed in this paper will be helpful to investigate the longitudinal dynamics of RF-bunched and ultra-cold ion beams in the upcoming laser cooling experiments at the CSRe.

Simulation study on the influence of longitudinal dynamic force on extreme-long heavy-haul trains

Purpose–The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of longitudinal forces on extreme-long heavy-haul trains,providing new insights and methods for their design and operation,thereby enhancing safety,operational efficiency and track system design.Design/methodology/approach–A longitudinal dynamics simulation model of the super long heavy haul train was established and verified by the braking test data of 30,000 t heavy-haul combination train on the long and steep down grade of Daqing Line.The simulation model was used to analyze the influence of factors on the longitudinal force of super long heavy haul train.Findings–Under normal conditions,the formation length of extreme-long heavy-haul combined train has a small effect on the maximum longitudinal coupler force under full service braking and emergency braking on the straight line.The slope difference of the long and steep down grade has a great impact on the maximum longitudinal coupler force of the extreme-long heavy-haul trains.Under the condition that the longitudinal force does not exceed the safety limit of 2,250 kN under full service braking at the speed of 60 km/h the maximum allowable slope difference of long and steep down grade for 40,000 t super long heavy-haul combined trains is 13‰,and that of 100,000 t is only 5‰.Originality/value–The results will provide important theoretical basis and practical guidance for further improving the transportation efficiency and safety of extreme-long heavy-haul trains.

Monitoring Longitudinal Vehicular Velocity by Using Driving Wheels Information

In order to enhance the accuracy and overcome the limitation of representing the vehicular velocity with non driving wheel speed signals, which is commonly used in researching on automotive dynamic control systems at present, the dynamic and kinematics models of running vehicles and wheels are established. The concept that expresses vehicle velocity using only the driving wheel speed information with adjustable weight factors is described and an algorithm is proposed. A Matlab program with the algorithm embedded is made to simulate the vehicle’s accelerating under different road conditions, and it’s simulation results coincide well with the experimental results, which demonstrates the validity of the algorithm.

The influence of AAR coupler features on estimation of in-train forces

Inadequate management of large in-train forces transferred through coupler systems of a railway train leads to running and structural failures of vehicles.Understanding these phenomena and their mitigation requires accurate estimation of relative motions and in-train forces between vehicle bodies.Previous numerical studies have ignored inertia of coupling elements and the impacts between couplers.Thus,existing models underestimate the additional dynamic variations in in-train forces.Detailed multi-body dynamic models of two AAR(Association of American Railroads)coupler systems used in passenger and freight trains are developed,incorporating coupler inertia and various slacks.Due to the modeling and simulation com-plexities involved in a full train model,with such details of coupler system,actual longitudinal train dynamics is not studied.A system comprising only two coupling units,inter-connecting two consecutive vehicles,is modeled.Considered system has been fixed at one end and an excitation force is applied at the other end,to mimic a relative force transmission through combined coupler system.Simulation results obtained from this representative system show that,noticeable influence in in-train forces are expected due to the combined effect of inertia of couplers and intermittent impacts between couplers in the slack regime.Maximum amplitude of longitudinal reaction force,transferred from draft gear housing to vehicle body,is expected to be significantly higher than that predicted using existing models of coupler system.It is also observed that the couplers and knuckles are subjected to significant longitudinal and lateral contact forces,due to the intermittent impacts between couplers.Thus,accurate estimation of draft gear reaction force and impact forces between couplers are essential to design vehicle and coupler components,respectively.

A numerical method for the simulation of freight train emergency braking operations based on the UIC braked weight percentage

The present paper shows the development of a strategy for the calculation of the air brake forces of European freight trains. The model is built to upgrade the existing Politecnico di Torino longitudinal train dynamics(LTD) code LTDPoliTo, which was originally unable to account for air brake forces. The proposed model uses an empirical exponential function to calculate the air brake forces during the simulation, while the maximum normal force on the brake friction elements is calculated according to the indication of the vehicle braked weight percentage.Hence, the model does not require to simulate in detail the fluid dynamics in the brake pipe nor to precisely know the main parameters of the braking system mounted on each vehicle. The model parameters are tuned to minimize the difference between the braking distance computed by the LTDPoliTo code and the value prescribed by the UIC544-1 leaflet in emergency braking operations. Simulations are run for different configurations of freight train compositions including a variable number of Shimmns wagons trailed by an E402B locomotive at the head of the train, as suggested in a reference literature paper. The results of the proposed method are in good agreement with the target braking distances calculated according to the international rules.

Modeling and Simulation of Diaphragm Spring Clutch

A model was developed to simulate a vehicle diaphragm spring clutch with the evaluation indicators of jerk degree and friction work.First,the pressing load characteristic of the driven plate of the diaphragm spring clutch was analyzed.Then,the clutch dynamic characteristic under each state was studied according to the basic principles of tribology.Finally,the mathematical model of the clutch was developed.Based on the model,the performance of a vehicle was simulated.The simulation results show that the model can predict the dynamic characteristic of the clutch correctly and evaluate the performance of the clutch engagement effectively.The model can be used for theoretical research of automatic clutch control and can be easily applied to simulate vehicle longitudinal dynamics.

Dynamic performance of heavy-haul combined train applying emergency braking on straight line

A heavy-haul train-track coupled model is developed. Taking the emergency braking of the 2×104 t combined train as example, the train longitudinal impulse, the coupler dynamic behaviors and wheel-rail interactions of vehicles distributing in the different positions are analyzed. The results indicate that under the coupler compressing forces, the couplers of middle locomotives may tilt to the free swing limits, which induces the unidirectional tilt of their connected wagon couplers. Consequently, the coupler longitudinal forces produce the lateral components, and then affect the wheel-rail dynamic interaction. The performance of the middle locomotive and their neighboring freight wagons deteriorate significantly, becoming the most dangerous parts in the combined train. The wagons disconnecting with the locomotives can basically keep their couplers to stabilize in the centering positions, even though the maximum coupler longitudinal force acts on it. And its corresponding running safety also has little changes.

Coupler force reduction method for multiple-unit trains using a new hierarchical control system

During traction and braking of multiple-unit trains,substantial longitudinal dynamic forces might occur in couplers due to the non-optimal distribution of traction and braking forces generated by self-propelled carriages.These dynamic forces might create shocks affecting the reduction of endurance of the weakest train structural components primarily.Thus,the overall operational safety of the train is also lowered.The purpose of the paper is to develop a new control system to supervise the activities related to the longitudinal dynamics of each train carriage in a multiple-unit train to reduce the longitudinal coupler forces acting during train traction and braking.The hierarchical structure of the control system consists of two levels.The first master level of control works like standard cruise control.However,the reduction of longitudinal coupler forces is achieved by applying a second level of slave control systems with a control configuration of feedback compensation.

Optimization Framework for Conceptual Powertrain Design

With an increasing number of vehicles with alternative powertrains, the choice of the most appropriate powertrain system for a vehicle class or a load cycle is challenging. This paper introduces a method to design an optimal alternative powertrain based on a longitudinal dynamic simulation. The objective function of the minimization problem describes the characteristic map of the traction system. The goal of the optimization is to minimize fuel consumption respectively energy demand. Different types of propulsion systems are investigated. The results show that the proposed method delivers useful alternative powertrains by applying an optimization with reasonable restrictions.

Longitudinal beam dynamic design of 500 kW beam power upgrade for CSNS-II RCS

Purpose The accelerator of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)consists of an 80 MeV H-linac and a 1.6 GeV rapid cycling synchrotron(RCS).The design beam power is 100 kW,which has been reached.In the upgrade project(CSNS-II),the beam power will be upgraded to 500 kW by increasing the linac energy to 300 MeV and adding a dual harmonic RF system in the RCS.In order to alleviate space charge effect and improve beam quality,the longitudinal beam dynamic of CSNS-II RCS dual harmonic RF system has been studied.Methods According to the longitudinal beam dynamic characteristics of CSNS-II RCS at different acceleration stages,the longitudinal emittance,bunching factor,momentumfilling factor and bunch length are studied and optimized in this paper.Results and conclusions The optimized bunching factor is greatly improved,and the tune spread caused by space charge effect is greatly reduced in CSNS-II.With the suppressed space charge effects,the beam loss can be well controlled in CSNS-II RCS.

Influence of the connecting condition on the dynamic buckling of longitudinal impact for an elastic rod

The stress wave propagation law and dynamic buckling critical velocity are formulated and solved by considering a general axial connecting boundary for a slender elastic straight rod impacted by a rigid body. The influence of connecting stiffness on the critical velocity is investigated with varied impactor mass and buckling time. The influences of rod length and rod mass on the critical velocity are also discussed. It is found that greater connecting stiffness leads to larger stress amplitude, and further results in lower critical velocity. It is particularly noteworthy that when the connecting stiffness is less than a certain value, dynamic buckling only occurs before stress wave reflects off the connecting end. It is also shown that longer rod with larger slenderness ratio is easier to buckle, and the critical velocity for a larger-mass rod is higher than that for a lighter rod with the same geometry.

Study on a segmented electro-pneumatic braking system for heavy-haul trains

The large longitudinal impact of heavy-haul trains is the main factor limiting their development,and the asynchronous nature of train-braking systems is the main cause of this longitudinal impact.In this paper,a segmented electro-pneumatic braking solution fully compatible with the existing freight-train braking system in China is proposed to improve the synchrony of train-braking systems.A simulation model for this braking system is developed based on air-flow theory,the 120 distribution valve and electronic control devices.The braking characteristics obtained from simulations are compared to those from the train-brake testing platform,and show high fidelity.On this basis,the effects of the new braking system on the braking capacity and longitudinal impact of a 20000 t heavy-haul train are analysed by further simulation.The results show that during service brakes,the segmented electro-pneumatic braking system can increase the braking capacity by 4.2–24.7%and reduce the coupler force by 21.6–68.0%.Therefore,it can be seen that the segmented electro-pneumatic braking system is a new type of electro-pneumatic brake that meets the needs of the Chinese railway network.It solves the problem of the longitudinal impact of heavy-haul trains satisfactorily,and its compatibility with the existing braking system(resulting in a reduced modification workload)makes it possible to maintain normal operations on heavy-haul lines while trains undergo modification.

The stress-velocity relationship of twinning partial dislocations and the phonon-based physical interpretation

The dependence of dislocation mobility on stress is the fundamental ingredient for the deformation in crystalline materials. Strength and ductility, the two most important properties characterizing mechanical behavior of crystalline metals, are in general governed by dislocation motion. Recording the position of a moving dislocation in a short time window is still challenging, and direct observations which enable us to deduce the speed-stress relationship of dislocations are still missing. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain the motion of an obstacle-free twinning partial dislocation in face centred cubic crystals with spatial resolution at the angstrom scale and picosecond temporal information. The dislocation exhibits two limiting speeds: the first is subsonic and occurs when the resolved shear stress is on the order of hundreds of megapascal. While the stress is raised to gigapascal level, an abrupt jump of dislocation velocity occurs, from subsonic to supersonic regime. The two speed limits are governed respectively by the local transverse and longitudinal phonons associated with the stressed dislocation, as the two types of phonons facilitate dislocation gliding at different stress levels.