Active Steering of a Rail Vehicle with Two-Axle Bogies Based on Wheelset Motion

Summary This paper deals with a basic study on the actively steered rail vehicle with two-axle bogie trucks, which employs a control law based on the self-steering ability of wheelset. However, this control law not only helps the steering performance, but also tends to lower the running stability. Two methods are proposed to improve the stability. The first method is to add a feedback of wheelset lateral velocity, the second one is to give some time lag to the control force, and both are proved to be affective. Here, the latter is more practical method and the delay of control due to the time lag does not deteriorate the steering performance.     

Simulation of active steering control for curving under traction in hauling locomotives

Active steering control in the form of secondary yaw control (SYC) and actuated wheelset yaw (AWY) have been in prototype development. This paper presents a new active steering bogie design, actuated yaw force steering (AY-FS), that is able to steer under high traction loads in tight curves. The AY-FS bogie design is compared with the AWY design. The steering performance AWY under high traction loads has not been previously reported. This paper examines five control methods, three for AWY and two for AY-FS bogies and assesses the traction curving and stability control performance of the alternative designs and control methods compared with each other and to passive steering bogie designs. The curving performance results showed considerable advantage in the proposed AY-FS bogies over the AWY. It was shown that control must be applied to both the yaw angle and the steering angle of the bogie to achieve the best traction steering performance which was not possible with the AWY bogies. The proposed new bogie designs of AY-FS overall give better traction curving and stability performance than the AWY designs.     

机械差速器耦合轮对轨道车辆导向性能分析

目前对称样式的差速器广泛应用于旋转车轮轨道车辆中,左右车轮差速控制的装置,成为时下研究的一个热点问题。研究学者在动力学的基础上对机械差速耦合轮对运行车辆的影响建立了模型进行分析,其中包含刚性的车轮和独立旋转的车轮,通过模型分析对比研究了机械差速耦合轮对车辆直线和曲线行驶导向性能的研究。研究发现,机械差速耦合装置独立旋转的车轮在车轮在复位对中有着积极的影响,对独立车轮导向能力差有了很好的解决办法。和刚性车轮进行比较,机械差速在通过性能上有着更好的安全性和导向性能。在城市轨道交通领域有着很好的应用。文章通过讨论车轮导向的原理,研究了机械差速耦合装置对轨道交通车辆导向性能的影响。     

Nonlinear PI front and rear steering control in four wheel steering vehicles

Vehicle steering dynamics show resonances, which depend on the longitudinal speed, unstable equilibrium points and limited stability regions depending on the constant steering wheel angle, longitudinal speed and car parameters.

The main contribution of this paper is to show that a combined decentralized proportional active front steering control and proportional-integral active rear steering control from the yaw rate tracking error can assign the eigenvalues of the linearised single track steering dynamics, without lateral speed measurements, using a standard single track car model with nonlinear tire characteristics and a non-linear first-order reference model for the yaw rate dynamics driven by the driver steering wheel input. By choosing a suitable nonlinear reference model it is shown that the responses to driver step inputs tend to zero (or reduced) lateral speed for any value of longitudinal speed: in this case the resulting controlled vehicle static gain from driver input to yaw rate differs from the uncontrolled one at higher speed. The closed loop system shows the advantages of both active front and rear steering control: higher controllability, enlarged bandwidth for the yaw rate dynamics, suppressed resonances, new stable cornering manoeuvres, enlarged stability regions, reduced lateral speed and improved manoeuvrability; in addition comfort is improved since the phase lag between lateral acceleration and yaw rate is reduced.

For the designed control law a robustness analysis is presented with respect to system failures, driver step inputs and critical car parameters such as mass, moment of inertia and front and rear cornering stiffness coefficients. Several simulations are carried out on a higher order experimentally validated nonlinear dynamical model to confirm the analysis and to explore the robustness with respect to unmodelled dynamics.     

Nonlinear PI front and rear steering control in four wheel steering vehicles

Vehicle steering dynamics show resonances, which depend on the longitudinal speed, unstable equilibrium points and limited stability regions depending on the constant steering wheel angle, longitudinal speed and car parameters.

The main contribution of this paper is to show that a combined decentralized proportional active front steering control and proportional-integral active rear steering control from the yaw rate tracking error can assign the eigenvalues of the linearised single track steering dynamics, without lateral speed measurements, using a standard single track car model with nonlinear tire characteristics and a non-linear first-order reference model for the yaw rate dynamics driven by the driver steering wheel input. By choosing a suitable nonlinear reference model it is shown that the responses to driver step inputs tend to zero (or reduced) lateral speed for any value of longitudinal speed: in this case the resulting controlled vehicle static gain from driver input to yaw rate differs from the uncontrolled one at higher speed. The closed loop system shows the advantages of both active front and rear steering control: higher controllability, enlarged bandwidth for the yaw rate dynamics, suppressed resonances, new stable cornering manoeuvres, enlarged stability regions, reduced lateral speed and improved manoeuvrability; in addition comfort is improved since the phase lag between lateral acceleration and yaw rate is reduced.

For the designed control law a robustness analysis is presented with respect to system failures, driver step inputs and critical car parameters such as mass, moment of inertia and front and rear cornering stiffness coefficients. Several simulations are carried out on a higher order experimentally validated nonlinear dynamical model to confirm the analysis and to explore the robustness with respect to unmodelled dynamics.     

Steering and Dynamic Stability of Railway Vehicles

For railway vehicles having coned wheels mounted on solid axles there is a conflict between dynamic stability and steering ability

It is shown that the stiffness and kinematic properties of all possible interwheelset connections are characterised by two properties describing the distortional characteristics of the vehicle in plan. Within this framework, the various possibilities for steered wheelsets are considered, and several past and current proposals are reviewed. Using the linear approach to dynamic stabibty and curve negotation the performance of existing and newly proposed configurations is discussed

For any symmetric, two-axle vehicle it is shown that for perfect steering on a curve there should be zero bending stiffness between the wheelsets. It is further shown that if the bending stiffness is zero, the vehicle lacks dynamic stability as the critical speed of instability, is zero. In this case, the vehicle undergoes a steering oscillation which occurs at the kinematic frequency of a single wheelset and which is a motion in which pure rolling occurs

Similar results are obtained with vehicles with three or more axles if adjacent axles are connected by shear structures. However, it is shown that it is possible to satisfy both the requirements of perfect steering and a non-zero critical speed if the vehicle has zero bending stiffness and if, in addition to adjacent wheelsets being connected in shear, at least one pair of non-adjacent axles are connected by a shear structure.     

Robust yaw stability control for electric vehicles based on active front steering control through a steer-by-wire system

A robust yaw stability control design based on active front steering control is proposed for in-wheel-motored electric vehicles with a Steer-by-Wire (SbW) system. The proposed control system consists of an inner-loop controller (referred to in this paper as the steering angle-disturbance observer (SA-DOB), which rejects an input steering disturbance by feeding a compensation steering angle) and an outer-loop tracking controller (i.e., a PI-type tracking controller) to achieve control performance and stability. Because the model uncertainties, which include unmodeled high frequency dynamics and parameter variations, occur in a wide range of driving situations, a robust control design method is applied to the control system to simultaneously guarantee robust stability and robust performance of the control system. The proposed control algorithm was implemented in a CaSim model, which was designed to describe actual in-wheel-motored electric vehicles. The control performances of the proposed yaw stability control system are verified through computer simulations and experimental results using an experimental electric vehicle.     

Method for obtaining the modal properties of articulated trains equipped with independently rotating wheels

Independently rotating wheels in railway vehicles could represent an alternative to standard technology as a solution to dynamic problems such as hunting instability or steering forces in curves. Among the proposed design solutions, the train with independently rotating wheels and with the most practical applications is that developed by Talgo. The Talgo technology is based on the use of a passive steering technique of the wheelset through a mechanism. The absence of automatic control systems means that a careful selection of the mechanical parameters of the vehicle is required to improve its dynamic characteristics. Aspects such as dynamic stability or the effect of vibration on passenger comfort could be analysed by extracting the modal properties of the train from mathematical models. In this article, a methodology for determining the low-frequency modal properties of articulated trains equipped with independently rotating wheels and passive steering system (Talgo-type) is proposed. The singularity of this application based on the use of non-conventional wheelsets necessarily involves the development of a specific methodology.     

Steering and Dynamic Stability of Railway Vehicles

SUMMARY

For railway vehicles having coned wheels mounted on solid axles there is a conflict between dynamic stability and steering ability

It is shown that the stiffness and kinematic properties of all possible interwheelset connections are characterised by two properties describing the distortional characteristics of the vehicle in plan. Within this framework, the various possibilities for steered wheelsets are considered, and several past and current proposals are reviewed. Using the linear approach to dynamic stabibty and curve negotation the performance of existing and newly proposed configurations is discussed

For any symmetric, two-axle vehicle it is shown that for perfect steering on a curve there should be zero bending stiffness between the wheelsets. It is further shown that if the bending stiffness is zero, the vehicle lacks dynamic stability as the critical speed of instability, is zero. In this case, the vehicle undergoes a steering oscillation which occurs at the kinematic frequency of a single wheelset and which is a motion in which pure rolling occurs

Similar results are obtained with vehicles with three or more axles if adjacent axles are connected by shear structures. However, it is shown that it is possible to satisfy both the requirements of perfect steering and a non-zero critical speed if the vehicle has zero bending stiffness and if, in addition to adjacent wheelsets being connected in shear, at least one pair of non-adjacent axles are connected by a shear structure.     

Method for obtaining the modal properties of articulated trains equipped with independently rotating wheels

Independently rotating wheels in railway vehicles could represent an alternative to standard technology as a solution to dynamic problems such as hunting instability or steering forces in curves. Among the proposed design solutions, the train with independently rotating wheels and with the most practical applications is that developed by Talgo. The Talgo technology is based on the use of a passive steering technique of the wheelset through a mechanism. The absence of automatic control systems means that a careful selection of the mechanical parameters of the vehicle is required to improve its dynamic characteristics. Aspects such as dynamic stability or the effect of vibration on passenger comfort could be analysed by extracting the modal properties of the train from mathematical models. In this article, a methodology for determining the low-frequency modal properties of articulated trains equipped with independently rotating wheels and passive steering system (Talgo-type) is proposed. The singularity of this application based on the use of non-conventional wheelsets necessarily involves the development of a specific methodology.     

基于增益模糊滑模变结构的线控液压转向控制

在分析全液压转向结构与转向偏差机理的基础上,设计了一种线控液压转向系统以实现车辆转向同步,消除转向偏差;针对现有方法确定的期望转向曲线可跟踪性差而无法实现转向同步,提出一种基于转向效率的期望转向曲线及其可行域确定方法,以最大、最小转向效率对应转向曲线为期望转向曲线可行域的上、下边界,确保期望转向曲线的可跟踪性;针对系统扰动不确定性及油液泄漏非线性,基于组合趋近律滑模控制,并引入饱和函数代替符号函数,在一定程度上抑制了控制系统的抖振;由于组合趋近律增益自适应性不足,导致车轮转角及角速度发生变化时,存在系统动态响应能力差的问题,通过分析车轮转角、角速度与趋近律增益的关系,制定了基于车轮转角及角速度的模糊规则表以自适应调整趋近律增益,实现增益模糊滑模控制,进一步提高油液补偿自适应能力和线控液压转向系统的鲁棒性;最后基于MATLAB/Simulink进行了仿真和试验验证。结果表明：提出的基于转向效率的期望转向曲线均具有良好的可跟踪性能;增益模糊滑模变结构控制具有良好的动态响应特性及控制精度,可有效地消除转向偏差,实现线控液压转向系统的同步转向。     

Modal Controllers for Active Steering of Railway Vehicles with Solid Axle Wheelsets

This paper presents the development of a modal control strategy for the active steering of solid axle railway vehicles and reveals benefits of actively stabilising the wheelsets of a railway vehicle. A modal decomposition is applied to a 2-axle railway vehicle to de-couple its body lateral and yaw motions and hence to allow more detailed analysis of the vehicle behaviour and more robust design of active controllers. Independent controllers for the two motions are developed based on the two de-coupled modes. Parameter variations such as creep coefficients and wheelset conicity are taken into account in the design process to guarantee a robust design. The study shows that, compared to a passive vehicle, the vehicles with actively steered wheelsets not only perform much better on a curved track, but also improve the ride quality on straight track. Computer simulations are used in the study to verify the development of the controllers and assess the system performance with the control scheme proposed.     

Snowplow Steering Guidance with Gain Stabilization

Acquisition and utilization of lateral guidance information is crucial for steering a vehicle. With practice, drivers can successfully perform the steering function using visual perception and hand-eye coordination. However, this seemingly simple task becomes difficult when the visual information loses its clarity. Driving a snowplow during whiteout conditions is one such example. In order to improve the safety and efficiency of snow removal operations, a supplemental guidance display was proposed and successfully implemented in a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) snowplow. The guidance information was calculated based on the magnetic markers embedded in the roadway. The crucial step to this success is a transformation of the guidance display problem into a robust driver-in-the-loop control problem. This transformation considers the 'display' law as part of the overall driver-steering-control algorithm. Two key 'assumptions' for this design are (1) the 'display' law should be designed in such a way that drivers can use 'proportional' control gain alone to satisfy the performance and stability requirements of the steering tasks, and (2) the driver steering model can be described as a combination of gain and dynamic delay under the display law in (1). This paper describes the validation process for the 'gain' stabilization design concept as well as the associated driver steering model using the initial snowplow test data.     

Snowplow Steering Guidance with Gain Stabilization

Acquisition and utilization of lateral guidance information is crucial for steering a vehicle. With practice, drivers can successfully perform the steering function using visual perception and hand-eye coordination. However, this seemingly simple task becomes difficult when the visual information loses its clarity. Driving a snowplow during whiteout conditions is one such example. In order to improve the safety and efficiency of snow removal operations, a supplemental guidance display was proposed and successfully implemented in a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) snowplow. The guidance information was calculated based on the magnetic markers embedded in the roadway. The crucial step to this success is a transformation of the guidance display problem into a robust driver-in-the-loop control problem. This transformation considers the ‘display’ law as part of the overall driver-steering-control algorithm. Two key ‘assumptions’ for this design are (1) the ‘display’ law should be designed in such a way that drivers can use ‘proportional’ control gain alone to satisfy the performance and stability requirements of the steering tasks, and (2) the driver steering model can be described as a combination of gain and dynamic delay under the display law in (1). This paper describes the validation process for the ‘gain’ stabilization design concept as well as the associated driver steering model using the initial snowplow test data.     

Modal Controllers for Active Steering of Railway Vehicles with Solid Axle Wheelsets

This paper presents the development of a modal control strategy for the active steering of solid axle railway vehicles and reveals benefits of actively stabilising the wheelsets of a railway vehicle. A modal decomposition is applied to a 2-axle railway vehicle to de-couple its body lateral and yaw motions and hence to allow more detailed analysis of the vehicle behaviour and more robust design of active controllers. Independent controllers for the two motions are developed based on the two de-coupled modes. Parameter variations such as creep coefficients and wheelset conicity are taken into account in the design process to guarantee a robust design. The study shows that, compared to a passive vehicle, the vehicles with actively steered wheelsets not only perform much better on a curved track, but also improve the ride quality on straight track. Computer simulations are used in the study to verify the development of the controllers and assess the system performance with the control scheme proposed.     

Lane-keeping benefits of practical rear axle steer

The classic two-degree-of-freedom yaw-plane or ‘bicycle’ vehicle model is augmented with two additional states to describe lane-keeping behaviour and further augmented with an additional control input to steer the rear axle. A simple driver model is hypothesised where the driver closes a loop on a projected lateral lane position. The driver can select the preview distance to compensate driver/vehicle dynamics, consistent with the ‘cross-over’ model found in the literature. A rear axle steer control law is found to be a function of the front axle steering input and vehicle speed that exhibits stability similar to a positive-real system, while at the same time improving the ability of the driver/vehicle system to track a complex curved lane and improving steady-state manoeuvrability. The theoretically derived control law bears similarity to practical embodiments allowing a deeper understanding of the functional value of steering a rear axle.     

Desired yaw rate and steering control method during cornering for a six-wheeled vehicle

This paper proposes a steering control method based on optimal control theory to improve the maneuverability of a six-wheeled vehicle during cornering. The six-wheeled vehicle is believed to have better performance than a four-wheeled vehicle in terms of its capability for crossing obstacles, off-road maneuvering and fail-safe handling when one or two of the tires are punctured. Although many methods to improve the four-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability have been studied and developed, there have only been a few studies on the six-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability. Some studies of the six-wheeled vehicle have been reported recently, but they are related to the desired yaw rate of a four-wheeled vehicle to control the six-wheeled vehicle’s maneuvering during corning. In this paper, the sideslip angle and yaw rate are controlled to improve the maneuverability during cornering by independent control of the steering angles of the six wheels. The desired yaw rate that is suitable for a six-wheeled vehicle is proposed as a control target. In addition, a scaled-down vehicle with six drive motors and six steering motors that can be controlled independently is designed. The performance of the proposed control methods is verified using a full model vehicle simulation and scaled-down vehicle experiment.     

基于驾驶人转向意图的双电机驱动电动汽车稳定性控制策略

为了使双电机驱动电动车在车辆稳定性控制过程中能够精确解读驾驶意图,使车辆实际行驶状态与驾驶意图期望的车辆行驶状态尽可能相符合,提出一种基于驾驶人意图辨识的稳定性控制策略.利用基于支持向量机递归特征消除(SVM-RFE)得到的特征参数构建基于长短期记忆(LSTM)模型的驾驶人转向意图辨识模型;基于转向意图识别结果,以方向...     

基于变传动比的全轮线控转向车辆可拓H∞控制方法研究

为了解决传统固定转向传动比以及鲁棒H_∞控制方法无法很好地改善车辆稳定性的问题,提出全轮线控转向车辆的变传动比和可拓H_∞控制策略。首先,建立八自由度车辆动力学模型和轮胎模型。其次,以车辆方向盘转角和车速为输入信息,基于模糊控制方法设计全轮线控转向车辆的转向传动比,并计算出全轮线控转向车辆的前轮转角。然后,以横摆角速度偏差和偏差微分为特征值,基于可拓控制理论将车辆状态划分为3个区域：经典域、可拓域和非域;在经典域中,采用基于横摆角速度反馈的鲁棒H_∞控制方法,实时获取全轮线控转向车辆的后轮转角;在可拓域和非域中,结合可拓控制和H_∞控制策略,动态调整H_∞控制器的输出信号,在保证控制系统鲁棒性的前提下改善车辆的操纵稳定性。最后,基于MATLAB/Simulink仿真平台和自主研制的全轮线控转向特种消防救援车辆,通过正弦转向、单移线、阶跃转向、双移线等典型工况对所提控制方法进行验证,并以平均绝对误差和均方根误差为评价指标,与无控制和H_∞控制方法进行对比分析。仿真和试验测试结果表明：①变传动比控制方法不仅可以提高车辆低速时的转向灵敏度,也能改善车辆高速时的稳定性;②相比传统鲁棒H_∞控制,可拓H_∞控制策略提高了全轮线控转向车辆的操纵稳定性,改善了车辆全轮线控转向控制系统的鲁棒性。     

基于快速控制原型的电动助力转向系统控制研究

阐述了车辆电动助力转向系统(EPS)的结构与工作原理.研究了EPS系统在路面冲击下的稳定性能及控制方法,对助力电机输出电流施行模糊PID闭环反馈控制,并采用幅频复合滤波对控制信号进行滤波处理,从而进一步提高了控制效果.通过在快速控制原型平台上进行的硬件在环实时仿真表明,该方法明显改善了EPS系统的控制性能.