Geometrical analysis of self-compensating suspension systems for railcar engineering

Abstract

The present analysis addresses several passive tilt systems for railroad cars aiming to compensate for the cart deficiency on curved tracks. To this end, the virtual centre of suspension must be located as close as possible to the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the coach, above the mass centre level for stability reasons. On the one hand, pantograph or Peaucellier's mechanisms may achieve the correct self-compensation. On the other hand, simpler articulated systems yield the desired goal with an excellent approximation. For example, selective algorithms can be applied for designing eight-link mechanisms, to be optimized thereafter by some method of the gradient type, minimizing the mean square value of the transverse acceleration component.