Design of robust active suspension system for performance improvement and vibration control of railway vehicles: An H∞andμ-synthesis perspective

Abstract

The ride comfort of a high-speed railway vehicle is a significant factor in assessing its performance. Despite having sound suspension systems and efficient control algorithms, the suspension system performance deteriorates with time. Hence, in this paper, a robust active vibration control system used in railway vehicles has been proposed. For analysis, a 27-degree of freedom (DOF) model consisting of structured and unstructured uncertainties has been considered. Two different robust control techniques, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]-synthesis integrated with the Kalman estimator, have been adopted. The robust stability and the robust performance of the proposed control strategies have been evaluated using the structured singular values. The time and frequency domains of the closed loop perturbed responses to random track disturbances are shown. The root mean square (RMS) values of the accelerations of the car bodies are used to compare the suggested control schemes to the passive system. The primary focus of this study is to examine the level of ride comfort provided by the railway vehicle. To achieve this, simulated findings are compared and verified against experimental data collected and reported by the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO). The observational data demonstrates that the results obtained from the suggested control methods are in close agreement with the experimental findings, with a minimal disparity ranging from 2.36% to 8.81% for lateral motion and 2.84% to 6.30% for vertical motion. Also, the % improvement of RMS values with [Formula: see text]-synthesis controller confirms the enhancement of the ride comfort as compared to other techniques.