Optimal control of railway vehicle system

This paper presents the performance of an optimal controller applied to the active suspension system of two-axle and bogie-based railway vehicle systems. The curving performances of both vehicles on varying curve radius and creep coefficients are compared. Computer simulation results have shown that the presence of bogies in a railway vehicle with active suspension system improves the lateral acceleration of the vehicle body (i.e. better comfort) but this requires much greater control effort than the two-axle vehicle. Also, in general, the designed controller is able to provide satisfactory performance for various sizes of curve radii and creep coefficients.