Increasing the Kinematic Performance of the Rail Vehicles by Using Adaptive Control Methods for Steering Bogies

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of two control methods used to increase the kinematic performance of two-axle bogie when the rail vehicle travels on curved track with constant speed. A holistic model for the bogie and wheelsets is developed using the multibody system approach. The mathematical model is implemented in MATLAB environment using Simulink toolbox. Then the bogie model is included in a closed loop and PID controller tuning is performed using Control Systems toolbox from MATLAB environment. The simulated values for lateral and yaw angular displacement of wheelsets are compared with those obtained by applying the Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) method. The results of the sensitivity analysis for rise time, peak overshoot and settling time with respect to travel speed for rail vehicle show that MRAC method improves the time domain closed-loop performance. The proposed MRAC method applied to the bogie system within the rail vehicle multibody model represents an important contribution to the development of rail transportation systems where rolling stock is equipped with motion control systems with superior efficiency and reduced energy consumption.