Computational & Technology Resources
an online resource for computational,
engineering & technology publications
Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 104
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY: RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Edited by: J. Pombo
Paper 321

Railway Vehicle Optimisation using the Concept of "Design for Control"

C.P. Ward1 , T.X. Mei2, P.D. Hubbard1 and M. Mirzapour2

1Control Systems Group, EESE, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
2Control and Systems Engineering Research Centre, School of Computing, Science and Engineering, University of Salford, United Kingdom

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
C.P. Ward , T.X. Mei, P.D. Hubbard, M. Mirzapour, "Railway Vehicle Optimisation using the Concept of "Design for Control"", in J. Pombo, (Editor), "Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 321, 2014. doi:10.4203/ccp.104.321
Keywords: mechatronics, control, condition monitoring, creep forces, dynamics, railway vehicle.

Summary
Design for control is an axiom extensively used in the aerospace and automotive industries that has proven highly beneficial both in terms of performance benefits but also in reducing unit costs and reducing maintenance burdens. To date, in the railway industry, active control for vehicle suspensions has been used in a sparse manner operationally, and generally only as a performance improvement measure for essentially passive systems. There is a lack of in-depth understanding of the broader benefits for both vehicle design or architecture and extended impact on rail infrastructure that could be brought about by this concept of design for control. This paper presents a brief summary of the outcomes of a short study into the accumulative benefits of design for control if applied to future railway vehicles. The aim of the project was to determine a philosophy of vehicle architecture that would maximise the effect of the axiom in terms of: reduced unit purchase cost; reduced running costs; and improved overall system performance. The paper proposes an architecture for a mature mechatronic vehicle and dynamic studies show that significant reduction in track damage can be achieved with this approach. A simple understanding of the cost implications is also explored which shows that the real benefits will come from operational cost reduction rather than from unit purchase cost.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20)

go to the previous paper
go to the next paper
return to the table of contents
return to the book description
purchase this book (price £65 +P&P)