Reduction of Flexural Vibration of Railway Vehicle Carbody Utilizing Multi-Axis Deformation of Elastic Body

Abstract

Recent railway vehicle carbodies are getting light-weight and structurally-simplified in terms of speed-up and energy saving. They often lead to increase the vertical flexural vibration of carbody which causes deterioration of the ride comfort. Therefore, it has been required to reduce the flexural vibration. An elastic body deforming both vertical and horizontal direction in response to a vertical input has possibility to be a simple but effective vibration absorber, according to previous studies. This paper proposes a new numerical model called “equivalent deformation model” which is able to represent the vibration of such elastic body. The validity of the model is verified through excitation tests for elastic circular cylindrical shells filled with water. And its vibration reduction effect is examined using 1:5 scale model of a Shinkansen. It is confirmed that the equivalent deformation model is applicable for designing an elastic circular cylindrical shell as a dynamic vibration absorber (elastic DVA). And the first-mode of bending vibration of the scale model can be successfully reduced by utilizing the elastic DVA.