A method for high fidelity simulations of railway virtual coupling

Virtual coupling uses wireless communications between railway trains to significantly reduce headways. Current train dynamics simulation methods in this topic model a whole trainset as a single mass neglecting inter-vehicle actions (in-train forces) as well as nonlinearities in traction, braking, suspension, and wheel-rail contact. This paper presents a better simulation method for railway virtual coupling by using high fidelity models to consider the previously neglected factors. The simulated train platoon is coordinated by using a detailed train control algorithm to safely keep the designed headway. Train dynamics simulations are then solved by using a parallel computing technique in which the Vehicle System Dynamics (VSD) simulation of each individual vehicle is assigned to an independent computer core. All used computer cores communicate via the parallel computing technique to exchange information to proceed with the simulations collaboratively. This new simulation method allows a better validation of the virtual coupling control algorithm and detailed assessments of train safety and general performance.