Semi-active suspension systems for railway vehicles using magnetorheological dampers. Part II: simulation and analysis

In this paper, the semi-active suspension system for railway vehicles based on the controlled magnetorheological (MR) fluid dampers is investigated, and compared with the passive on and passive off suspension systems. The lateral, yaw, and roll accelerations of the car body, trucks, and wheelsets of a full-scale railway vehicle integrated with four MR dampers in the secondary suspension systems, which are in the closed and open loops respectively, are simulated under the random and periodical track irregularities using the established governing equations of the railway vehicle and the modelled track irregularities in Part I of this paper. The simulation results indicate that (1) the semi-active controlled MR damper-based suspension system for railway vehicles is effective and beneficial as compared with the passive on and passive off modes, and (2) while the car body accelerations of the railway vehicle integrated with semi-active controlled MR dampers can be significantly reduced relative to the passive on and passive off ones, the accelerations of the trucks and wheelsets could be increased to some extent. However, the increase in the accelerations of the trucks and wheelsets is insignificant.