Active steering control system of a rail vehicle based on the analysis of the sound radiation

During recent years, along with other methods of determining contact parameters in the contact zone, the method of diagnosing noises, which appear at the process of work of a railway vehicle, is beginning to be applied. This paper presents a variant of active steering, which is built upon the application of axle boxes with links inclined to the longitudinal axle of track in the horizontal plane. Based on obtained experimental and theoretical results, the system for active steering of a railway vehicle is proposed. The adjustments of the wheels set position on the track are executed by means of actions from actuators to links to the axle boxes depending on analysis of noise in the wheel-rail contact. In this paper, the Simpack simulation model has been used. The proposed control strategy was modeled in Matlab/Simulink. The Simpack model was linked with the control unit in Matlab/Simulink by means of SIMAT-interface. Based on the software described above the system was investigated using co-simulation. Results from this study are presented and the effectiveness of this work is discussed. The proposed system allows for the reduction of wear of wheels and rails on the curving parts of track and improving tractive efforts of a railway vehicle.