Damping Coefficient Optimization for the Articulated System of Virtual Track Trains

Virtual track trains are a new type of rail transportation because the multisection formation structure leads to more degrees of freedom of the vehicle, which may cause unstable phenomena, such as tailing, cross-swing, and folding, affecting the stability and ride comfort of the vehicle driving. To explore the effect of damping coefficient of the articulated systems on vehicle dynamics performance, a vehicle system dynamics model is established based on the actual parameters of a three-module six-axle virtual track train. According to ISO14791: 2000, select typical working conditions such as straight line, lane change, and 1/4 circle curve, and optimize the damping coefficient of the articulated systems through co-simulation. The study shows that under straight-line conditions, increasing the damping coefficient can effectively suppress the yaw angular acceleration and improve the lateral ride comfort of the vehicle but has little effect on the vertical ride comfort. Under lane change conditions, too large or small damping coefficients will deteriorate the train’s lateral stability, and a reasonable damping coefficient will improve the yaw damping ratio of the vehicle and reduce the lateral sway vibration between vehicles. Under the 1/4 circle curve conditions, the additional articulated system damper will reduce the vehicle’s curve passing performance. In this paper, the articulation stability of multimodule fully connected vehicles is analyzed and optimized for the first time, and the damping coefficient control strategy is given based on the geometric tracking control method. The research results are of great significance for the parameter selection of virtual track trains’ articulated system and the design and development of specialized articulated systems for related vehicles.