Numerical Prediction of Ride Comfort of Tracked Vehicle Equipped with Novel Flexible Road Wheels

Enhancing ride comfort has always constituted a crucial focus in the design and research of modern tracked vehicles,heavily reliant on the driving system's performance.While the road wheel is a key component of the driving system,traditional road wheels predominantly adopt a solid structure,exhibiting subpar adhesion performance and damping effects,thereby falling short of meeting the demands for high-speed,stable,and long-distance driving in tracked vehicles.Addressing this issue,this paper proposes a novel type of flexible road wheel(FRW)characterized by a catenary construction.The study investigates the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible road wheels by integrating finite element and vehicle dynamic.First,three-dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)models of both flexible and rigid road wheels are established,considering material and contact nonlinearities.These models are validated through a wheel radial loading test.Based on the validated FE model,the paper uncovers the relationship between load and radial deformation of the road wheel,forming the basis for a nonlinear mathematical model.Subsequently,a half-car model of a tracked vehicle with seven degrees of freedom is established using Newton's second law.A random road model,considering the track effect and employing white noise,is constructed.The study concludes by examining the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible and rigid road wheels under various speeds and road grades.The results demonstrate that,in comparison to the rigid road wheel(RRW),the flexible road wheel enhances the ride comfort of tracked vehicles on randomly uneven roads.This research provides a theoretical foundation for the implementation of flexible road wheels in tracked vehicles.

The Development of Self-Balancing Controller for One-Wheeled Vehicles

The purpose of this study is to develop a self-balancing controller (SBC) for one-wheeled vehicles (OWVs). The composition of the OWV system includes: a DSP motion card, a wheel motor, and its driver. In addition, a tilt and a gyro, for sensing the angle and angular velocity of the body slope, are used to realize self-balancing controls. OWV, a kind of unicycle robot, can be dealt with as a mobile-inverted-pendulum system for its instability. However, for its possible applications in mobile carriers or robots, it is worth being further developed. In this study, first, the OWV system model will be derived. Next, through the simulations based on the mathematical model, the analysis of system stability and controllability can be evaluated. Last, a concise and realizable method, through system pole-placement and linear quadratic regulator (LQR), will be proposed to design the SBC. The effectiveness, reliability, and feasibility of the proposal will be con- firmed through simulation studies and experimenting on a physical OWV.

Estimation of Vehicle Speed Based on Wheel Speeds from ASR System in Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles

Three major methods currently in the use of determining vehicle speed based on wheel speeds, the minimum wheel speed, minimum wheel speed corrected by slope method and the Kalman filter method, are analyzed, with merits and defects of each approach stated. Through simulations, the Kalman filter method based on minimum wheel speed shows improved accuracy, in addition to better adaptivity to vehicle reference speed. It also can be used to acceleration ship regulation （ASR） in part-time four-wheel drive vehicles.

Obstacle performance of cobalt-enriching crust wheeled mining vehicle

A cobalt-enriching crust mining vehicle with four independent driven wheels was proposed. The influence of center-of-gravity position of mining vehicle on obstacle performance was studied. The results show that the mining vehicle has optimal obstacle performance with center-of-gravity position in the middle of suspension. A virtual prototype based on ADAMS software was built and its obstacle performance was simulated. Simulation results show that the mining vehicle with four independent driven wheels has excellent obstacle performance, the maximum climbing capacity is no less than 30°, the maximal ditch width and shoulder height are no less than wheel radius of mining vehicle. Thus wheeled mining vehicle is feasible for cobalt-enriching crust commercial mining.

Steering Control of Wheeled Armored Vehicle with Brushless DC Motor

Considering the steering characters of one type of wheeled armored vehicle, a brushless direct current （DC） motor is adapted as the actuator for steering control. After investigating the known algorithms, one kind of algorithm, which combines the fuzzy logic control with the self-adapting PID control and the startup and pre-hrake control, is put forward. Then a test-bed is constructed, and an experiment is conducted. The result of experiment confirms the validity of this algorithm in steering control of wheeled armored vehicle with brushless DC motor.

Track Tension Analysis of Four-Wheel Drive Tracked Vehicles

The distribution of track tension on track link is complex when the tracked vehicles run at a high speed.A multi-drive track link structure,which changes the traditional induction wheel into the driving wheel was proposed.The mathematical model of the system was established and the distribution of track tension was studied.The combined simulation model of RecurDyn and Simulink of the structure with multi-drive track was established.The simulation results show that our proposed structure has more uniform tension distribution than traditional structures,especially under the high speed condition.The maximum tension can be reduced by 28 kN-36 kN and the transmission efficiency can be improved by10%-16% under high speed condition with this new structure.

Safety evaluation for railway vehicles using an improved indirect measurement method of wheel–rail forces

The wheel-rail force measurement is of great importance to the condition monitoring and safety evaluation of railway vehicles. In this paper, an improved indirect method for wheel-rail force measurement is proposed to evaluate the running safety of railway vehicles. In this method, the equilibrium equations of a suspended wheelset are derived and the wheel-rail forces are then be obtained from measured suspension and inertia forces. This indirect method avoids structural modifications to the wheelset and is applicable to the long-term operation of railway vehicles. As the wheel-rail lateral forces at two sides of the wheelset are difficult to separate, a new derailment criterion by combined use of wheelset derailment coefficient and wheel unloading ratio is proposed. To illustrate its effectiveness, the indirect method is applied to safety evaluation of rail- way vehicles in different scenarios, such as the cross wind safety of a high-speed train and the safety of a metro vehicle with hunting motions. Then, the feasibility of using this method to identify wheel-rail forces for low-floor light rail vehicles with resilient wheels is discussed. The values identified by this method is compared with that by Simpack simulation for the same low-floor vehicle, which shows a good coincidence between them in the time domain of the wheelset lateral force and the wheel-rail vertical force. In addition, use of the method to determine the high-frequency wheel-rail interaction forces reveals that it is possible to identify the high-frequency wheel-rail forces through the accelerations on the axle box.

Parametric analysis of wheel wear in high-speed vehicles

In order to reduce the wheel profile wear of highspeed trains and extend the service life of wheels, a dynamic model for a high-speed vehicle was set up, in which the wheelset was regarded as flexible body, and the actual measured track irregularities and line conditions were considered. The wear depth of the wheel profile was calculated by the well-known Archard wear law. Through this model, the influence of the wheel profile, primary suspension stiffness, track gage, and rail cant on the wear of wheel profile were studied through multiple iterafive calculations. Numerical simulation results show that the type XP55 wheel profile has the smallest cumulative wear depth, and the type LM wheel profile has the largest wear depth. To reduce the wear of the wheel profile, the equivalent conicity of the wheel should not be too large or too small. On the other hand, a small primary vertical stiffness, a track gage around 1,435-1,438 mm, and a rail cant around 1：35-1：40 are beneficial for dynamic performance improvement and wheel wear alleviation.

Multi-Body Dynamics Modeling of Heavy Goods Vehicle-Rail Interaction

Based on the principle of vehicle-track coupling dynamics, SIMPACK multi-body dynamics software is used to establish a C80 wagon line-coupled multi-body dynamics model with 73 degrees of freedom. And the reasonableness of the line-coupled dynamics model is verified by using the maximum residual acceleration, the nonlinear critical speed of the wagon. The experimental results show that the established vehicle line coupling dynamics model meets the requirements of vehicle line coupling dynamics modeling.

Four Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicle Lateral Stability Control Strategy

In this paper,a kind of lateral stability control strategy is put forward about the four wheel independent drive electric vehicle.The design of control system adopts hierarchical structure.Unlike the previous control strategy,this paper introduces a method which is the combination of sliding mode control and optimal allocation algorithm.According to the driver’s operation commands(steering angle and speed),the steady state responses of the sideslip angle and yaw rate are obtained.Based on this,the reference model is built.Upper controller adopts the sliding mode control principle to obtain the desired yawing moment demand.Lower controller is designed to satisfy the desired yawing moment demand by optimal allocation of the tire longitudinal forces.Firstly,the optimization goal is built to minimize the actuator cost.Secondly,the weighted least-square method is used to design the tire longitudinal forces optimization distribution strategy under the constraint conditions of actuator and the friction oval.Beyond that,when the optimal allocation algorithm is not applied,a method of axial load ratio distribution is adopted.Finally,Car Sim associated with Simulink simulation experiments are designed under the conditions of different velocities and different pavements.The simulation results show that the control strategy designed in this paper has a good following effect comparing with the reference model and the sideslip angle is controlled within a small rang at the same time.Beyond that,based on the optimal distribution mode,the electromagnetic torque phase of each wheel can follow the trend of the vertical force of the tire,which shows the effectiveness of the optimal distribution algorithm.

Interaction of subway LIM vehicle with ballasted track in polygonal wheel wear development

This paper develops a coupled dynamics model for a linear induction motor （LIM） vehicle and a subway track to investigate the influence of polygonal wheels of the vehicle on the dynamic behavior of the system. In the model, the vehicle is modeled as a multi-body system with 35 degrees of freedom. A Timoshenko beam is used to model the rails which are discretely supported by sleepers. The sleepers are modeled as rigid bodies with their vertical, lateral, and rolling motions being considered. In order to simulate the vehicle running along the track, a moving sleeper support model is introduced to simulate the excitation by the discrete sleeper supporters, in which the sleepers are assumed to move backward at a constant speed that is the same as the train speed. The Hertzian contact theory and the Shen– Hedrick–Elkins’ model are utilized to deal with the normal dynamic forces and the tangential forces between wheels and rails, respectively. In order to better characterize the linear metro system （LMS）, Euler beam theory based on modal superposition method is used to model LIM and RP. The vertical electric magnetic force and the lateral restoring force between the LIM and RP are also taken into consideration. The former has gap-varying nonlinear characteristics, whilst the latter is considered as a constant restoring force of 1 kN. The numerical analysis considers the effect of the excitation due to polygonal wheels on the dynamic behavior of the system at different wear stages, in which the used data regarding the polygonal wear on the wheel tread are directly measured at the subway site.

Torque Distribution of Electric Vehicle with Four In-Wheel Motors Based on Road Adhesion Margin

With the worsening of energy crisis and environmental pollution,electric vehicles with four in?wheel motors have been paid more and more attention. The main research subject is how to reasonably distribute the driving torque of each wheel. Considering the longitudinal motion,lateral motion,yaw movement and rotation of the four wheels,the tire model and the seven DOF dynamic model of the vehicle are established in this paper. Then,the torque distribution method is proposed based on road adhesion margin,which can be divided into anti ? slip control layer and torque distribution layer. The anti?slip control layer is built based on sliding mode variable structure control,whose main function is to avoid the excessive slip of wheels caused by road conditions. The torque distribution layer is responsible for selecting the torque distribution method based on road adhesion margin. The simulation results show that the proposed torque distribution method can ensure the vehicle quickly adapt to current road adhesion conditions,and improve the handling stability and dynamic performance of the vehicle in the driving process.

Study on control mechanism for turning of tracked vehicles with twin driving

Turning mechanism is important assemblies for tracked vehicles. Turning performance is important evaluating indicator. The performance of the turning mechanism directly affect the mobility and productivity of the crawler. However, there are still some problems crying out for solutions in superior turning mechanism for vehicle engineering area. Composition and performance of turning system in agricultural tracked vehicles matched with twin driving differential turning mechanism was introduced, which adopted quiet hydraulic double pumps and double motors, took advantage of flexibility greatly for track vehicle turning and benefit for handling used steering wheel.

Multi-objective Optimization of Differential Steering System of Electric Vehicle with Motorized Wheels

A differential steering system is presented for electric vehicle with motorized wheels and a dynamic model of three-freedom car is built.Based on these models,the quantitative expressions of the road feel,sensitivity,and operation stability of the steering are derived.Then,according to the features of multi-constrained optimization of multi-objective function,a multi-island genetic algorithm(MIGA)is designed.Taking the road feel and the sensitivity of the steering as optimization objectives and the operation stability of the steering as a constraint,the system parameters are optimized.The simulation results show that the system optimized with MIGA can improve the steering road feel,and guarantee the operation stability and steering sensibility.

The Summary of the Research on the Compound Braking Strategy of Four Wheel Hub Motor Drive Electric Vehicle

This paper describes in detail three kinds of typical compound braking strategy of wheel motor drive electric vehicle and summarizes the current commonly used strategies based on the three typical strategies developed. In the end, a new compound braking strategy is proposed;that is, we take braking mode classify, ECE regulations and SOC value of the battery as an important reference of braking force that joins the motor braking force, as well as we join the different identification models;according to the different braking modes, the purpose is that we can apply the different braking program.

Research on the Variable Steering Ratio of Four-Wheel-Steering Vehicle

The steering characteristic of a four-wheel-steering vehicle is numerically simulated for in-depth research of the handling stability of four-wheel steering. The research results show that the deteriorating tendency of the steering stability due to the increase of the vehicle speed is improved obviously in the case of four-wheel steering. The approach of variable steering ratio is discussed. The use of the variable steering ratio can not only raise the steering stability of vechicles at high vehicle speed, but also reduce the dicomfort and steering burden of drivers; and hence is helpful for the subjective evaluation of four-wheel steering vehicles.

Improving rail vehicle dynamic performance with active suspension

Today,it is difficult to further improve the dynamic performance of rail vehicles with conventional passive suspension.Also,simplified vehicle respectively running gear layouts that significantly could reduce vehicle weights are difficult to realize with modern requirements on passenger vibration comfort and wheel and rail wear.Active suspension is a powerful technology that can improve the vehicle dynamic performance and make simplified vehicle concepts possible.The KTH Railway group has,together with external partners,investigated active suspensions both numerically and experimentally for 15 years.The paper provides a summary of the activities and the most important findings.One major project carried out in close collaboration with the vehicle manufacturer Bombardier and the Swedish Transport Administration was the Green Train project,where a 2-car EMU test bench was used to demonstrate different active technologies.In ongoing projects,a concept of single axle-single suspension running gear is developed with active suspension both for comfort improvement and reduced wheel wear in curves.The results from on-track tests in the Green Train project were so good that the technology is now implemented in commercial trains and the simulation results for the single-axle running gear are very promising.

不同牵引特性城轨列车车轮磨耗与疲劳研究

针对列车频繁牵引起动对车轮磨耗与疲劳损伤产生的影响问题,在恒定牵引力的基础上,探究了不同牵引特性曲线恒功率区转折点速度对车轮磨耗与疲劳的影响规律。采用SIMPACK和MATLAB软件进行联合仿真,建立了不同牵引特性下城轨列车动力学模型和基于Archard的车轮磨耗模型,分析在牵引电机不同起动转矩下牵引特性曲线恒功率区转折点速度对城轨列车轮轨蠕滑率、车轮磨耗深度、磨耗面积以及疲劳指数的影响规律。结果表明:列车牵引起动过程中,电机起动转矩越大,轮轨蠕滑率、车轮磨耗深度和磨耗面积也越大,而疲劳指数则越小;电机起动转矩一定时,随着列车牵引特性曲线恒功率区转折点速度的增大,轮轨蠕滑率、车轮磨耗深度和磨耗面积也增大,疲劳指数则有所减小;当电机起动转矩从800 N·m增大到1400 N·m,车轮磨耗深度和磨耗面积增长率最大为6.9%和12.6%,而疲劳指数下降率最大为7.2%;当恒功率区转折点速度从50 km/h增加到80 km/h,车轮磨耗深度和磨耗面积增长率最大为4.4%和4.3%,疲劳指数下降率最大为1.9%。本文研究了车辆起动转矩与恒功率转折点速度变化对车轮磨耗与疲劳的影响规律,可为车辆牵引特性设计和电机控制以及车轮运维提供参考。

考虑材料温变特性的三维轮轨接触热分析

为研究材料温变特性对轮轨接触行为和摩擦温升的影响,提出了一种考虑材料温变特性的三维轮轨热力耦合模型,能够考虑纵、横向蠕滑率和自旋的影响,更为真实地模拟轮轨系统的服役状态.首先,研究了热力耦合建模方式对轮轨界面摩擦温升及接触应力的影响;随后,将该模型应用于地铁小半径曲线处车辆-轨道相互作用模拟.结果表明:当轮轨界面温度达到450℃时,轮轨接触应力显著降低,降幅可达20%;考虑热力耦合建模后,轮轨界面的预测温升明显低于不考虑热力耦合建模时的结果,在蠕滑率为0.16时,两者的差异可达51%;地铁车辆在小半径曲线线路上运行时轮轨摩擦温升因过大的蠕滑率与自旋会急剧增大到750℃,应考虑轮轨热力耦合建模以避免过高估计轮轨摩擦温升以及轮轨接触应力.

两轴径向独立轮副轨道车辆动力学性能

针对独立车轮导向问题提出后倾角导向方法,使独立轮副轨道车辆获得自导向能力。阐述车辆的自导向原理,利用横向轮轨力和后倾角力臂形成摇头力矩,使独立车轮自动转向。关于中心对称的前后独立轮副分别向相反方向转向,使独立车轮处于径向位置。采用多体动力学方法分析独立轮副轨道车辆的自导向性能。结果表明:在直线轨道上,后倾角对车辆横向位移和摇头角的影响明显。带后倾角车辆出现类蛇行运动现象。具有后倾角的车辆在直线轨道上能够自动复位。在曲线轨道上,左前导向轮具有较大的冲角。后倾角能够使车辆动态对中,最终回到轨道中心线位置。带后倾角的独立轮副轨道车辆在曲线轨道上具有有限的导向能力。