A COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON LATERAL STABILITY AND STEADY-STATE CURVING BEHAVIOR OF UNCONVENTIONAL RAIL TRUCK MODELS

Conventional railway vehicle systems exhibit hunting phenomena which i ncreases component wear and imposes operating speed limits. There is a lso a conflict between dynamic stability and the ability of the vehicl e to steer around curves. Alternatively, independently rotating wheels (IRW) in a wheelset eliminate hunting but the wheelset guidance capab ility is lost. A compromise solution is made possible by a modified de sign that exploits a lack of fore-and-aft symmetry in the suspension d esign. A comparative study on steady state curving performance and dyn amic stability of some unconventional truck designs is carried out. Th e effects of suspension and conicity are considered to evaluate the tr ade-off between dynamic stability and curving performance.