Today railway vehicles contain substantial amounts of electronic and computer control, in particular the traction systems which have been converted entireley since railways began. However electronic control can also be applied to the vehicle suspension and guidance functions, which can provide large improvements in performance. Incorporation of sensors, controllers and actuators into the design process from the start can enable vehicle designers to take advantage of different mechanical configurations which are not possible with a purely mechanical approach. In this paper the concepts of mechatronics for railway vehicles, the current state-of-the-art and future opportunities are discussed. The paper provides an overview of the possibilities that exist for mechatronic railway vehicles. It provides a progressive overview, starting with the active control techniqus which are currently employed and moving on through a sequence of opportunities wihch are increasingly further away from the current state-of-the-art in railway technology. Discussed are: 1. Tilting trains (the concept of tilt, mechanical schemes for tilt, tilting controller strategies); 2. active secondary suspension (passive suspension characteristics, use of active elements); 3. controlling wheels and wheelsets (wheelset dynamics, active control of wheels and wheelsets, wheelsets with independently rotating wheels, directly-steered wheels, range of options for active wheel/wheelset control); 4. traction and braking. It seems inevitable that rail vehicles will become 'increasingly mechatronic' in some form or another, and comparison with other industries makes it clear that such an evolution is strategically important for railways.
Mechatronic developments for railway vehicles of the future
Mechatronik-Entwicklungen für Schienenfahrzeuge der Zukunft
2000
12 Seiten, 18 Bilder, 36 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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