An efficient modelling approach to obtain dynamic properties of equipment coupled to the bogie of vehicle

Abstract

Modelling the dynamic interaction between equipment and the bogie of a railway vehicle is crucial for the vibration and fatigue analysis of equipment. Current methods such as finite element and rigid-flexible coupling techniques are cumbersome. In this study, an efficient modelling approach is proposed to obtain the dynamic properties of coupled equipment. First, the vehicle and equipment are treated as independent modules, and further coupled using the frequency response function (FRF)-based substructuring method (FBSM). The FBSM is then developed from the finite element method to derive the FRF for the force to stress of equipment. Validation against experimental data and existing methods for a metro vehicle demonstrates the efficacy of our approach. The results indicate that the proposed approach models the vehicle and equipment as independent modules, eliminating the interdependent modeling steps of the previous approach and requiring less computation. The coupled small-mass equipment has a negligible influence on the dynamic properties of the vehicle bogie, but its dynamic properties are sensitive to vehicle and connection stiffness. Moreover, the vibration fatigue of equipment caused by the wheel/rail roughness can also be analyzed with the proposed approach.