Improving crosswind stability of fast rail vehicles using active secondary suspension

Abstract

Rail vehicles are today increasingly equipped with active suspension systems for ride comfort purposes. In this paper, it is studied whether these often powerful systems also can be used to improve crosswind stability. A fast rail vehicle equipped with active secondary suspension for ride comfort purposes is exposed to crosswind loads during curve negotiation. For high crosswind loads, the active secondary suspension is used to reduce the impact of crosswind on the vehicle. The control input is taken from the primary vertical suspension deflection. Three different control cases are studied and compared with the only comfort-oriented active secondary suspension and a passive secondary suspension. The application of active secondary suspension resulted in significantly improved crosswind stability.