Prediction of fatigue life and estimation of its reliability on the parts of an air suspension system

Air suspension systems have been implemented in various commercial vehicles, such as buses and special purpose trucks, because of the comfortable ride and easy height control. An evaluation of the durability of vehicle parts has been required for service life and safety starting in the early stages of design. The cyclic load applied to the vehicle can cause fatigue failure of parts, such as the suspension frame. This paper presents a method to predict the fatigue life of the suspension frame at the design stage of the air suspension system used in a heavy-duty vehicle. To estimate the fatigue life using the SN method, the Dynamic Stress Time History (DSTH) is necessary for the part of interest. DSTH can be obtained from the results of the flexible body dynamic analysis using the Belgian road simulation and the Modal Stress Recovery (MSR) method. Furthermore, the reliability of the predicted fatigue life can be evaluated by considering the variations in material properties. The probability and distribution of the expected life cycle can be obtained using experimental design with a minimum number of simulations. The advantage of using statistical methods to evaluate the life cycle is the ability to predict replacement time and the probability of failure of mass-produced parts. This paper proposes a rapid and simple method that can be effectively applied to the design of vehicle parts.     

Links between subjective and objective evaluations regarding the steering character of automobiles

This work presents an experiment on the relationships between subjective and objective evaluations of vehicle handling. Ten cars were examined objectively in several open-loop driving dynamics manoeuvres and subjectively by test persons in typical traffic situations. Results are extracted from a stationary test (the Slowly Increasing Steer Test), and a dynamical test (the Frequency Response Test). The subjective measurements are obtained from drivers on a rural road course via a questionnaire, which was developed to separately investigate the quantity level perception, the so-called “Niveau”, and the more qualitative “Liking”. These subjective “measurements” are embedded into a two-channel definition of “Steering Comfort” as a genus for “Steering Discomfort” and “Character”. The article concentrates on developing a statistical method for the consideration of correlations amongst the subjective/objective data. In doing so, the variance in example subjective Niveau ratings can be significantly explained by several objective quantities. Indicators for co-domains of validated discomfort characteristics and hints for endeavouring character Liking ranges are detected.     

Optimized design for a MacPherson strut suspension with side load springs

Undesired lateral force inevitably exists in a MacPherson suspension system, which is liable to damper rod’s side wear and promotes the damper’s inner friction decreasing the ride performance from the suspension system. Substituting a new side load spring with curved centerline for the conventional coil spring has been proven able to solve these problems and Multi-body Dynamics combining with Finite Elements Analysis may be an efficient method in optimizing its design. Therefore, taking a passenger car as example, a detailed multi-body dynamics model for the suspension system is built to simulate forces exerted on the damper and the minimization of its lateral component is selected as the design target for the spring. When the structure optimization of the side load spring is performed using FEA software ANSYS, its vertical and lateral elastic characteristics, supported by test data, are analyzed. After importing FEA results back to the suspension system, the dynamics simulation can be performed to validate the optimization result.     

悬索管道桥结构参数对全桥动力特性的影响研究

大跨度悬索管道桥桥面窄,宽跨比小,结构十分轻柔,结构参数的改变对其动力特性有较大的影响。以川气东送野山河悬索跨越工程为例,采用大型有限元分析软件ANSYS10.0分析了风缆预张力和风缆面与水平面夹角变化对该悬索管道桥动力特性的影响。研究表明,提高风缆预张力和选取适当的风缆与水平面的夹角能有效地提高全桥结构刚度。     

轮轨冲击对构架疲劳的影响

以三轴机车转向架构架为例,建立其轮轨冲击的运动微分方程,通过龙格-库塔积分法得到了轮轨冲击的载荷时间历程,分析了轮轨动态冲击对构架疲劳寿命的影响。利用有限单元法建立了轮对、构架、车体的整体有限元模型,采用瞬态动力学分析得到构架危险点的应力时间历程,结合材料的S-N曲线以及疲劳损伤累积准则,进行了构架的疲劳寿命计算,得到轮轨低接头冲击下构架疲劳寿命。分析结果表明:构架的应力响应并不与轮轨处的激励同时达到最大,且在激励结束后有一较长的响应过程;轮轨冲击对构架的疲劳影响较大,尤其对轴箱弹簧座处的侧梁下盖板的寿命影响最为显著,在25·0m轨长的错牙接头作用下,其疲劳寿命为5·15×106km。     

Vehicle response-based track geometry assessment using multi-body simulation

The assessment of the geometry of railway tracks is an indispensable requirement for safe rail traffic. Defects which represent a risk for the safety of the train have to be identified and the necessary measures taken. According to current standards, amplitude thresholds are applied to the track geometry parameters measured by recording cars. This geometry-based assessment has proved its value but suffers from the low correlation between the geometry parameters and the vehicle reactions. Experience shows that some defects leading to critical vehicle reactions are underestimated by this approach. The use of vehicle responses in the track geometry assessment process allows identifying critical defects and improving the maintenance operations. This work presents a vehicle response-based assessment method using multi-body simulation. The choice of the relevant operation conditions and the estimation of the simulation uncertainty are outlined. The defects are identified from exceedances of track geometry and vehicle response parameters. They are then classified using clustering methods and the correlation with vehicle response is analysed. The use of vehicle responses allows the detection of critical defects which are not identified from geometry parameters.     

山岭隧道涌水量预测方法分类及相关因素分析

准确预测隧道涌水量能有效减少隧道病害,保护生态环境,科学指导隧道的设计与施工,而如何正确选择和应用预测方法,是准确预测的前提条件。通过广泛调研,在总结分析各类涌水量预测方法的原理和适用范围基础上,以六盘山隧道某断面为例,深入探讨了围岩渗透系数、洞室尺寸、地下水位净高变化、注浆圈厚度、注浆水平和衬砌抗渗等级等因素对隧道涌水量的影响,重点指出各类解析方法的局限性和适用条件,突出了注浆水平在实际工程中的作用,并建议山岭公路隧道衬砌抗渗等级不宜小于S8。     

160 km/h高速货车转向架的研制

根据高速货车转向架的运用要求和运用条件,确定了160km/h高速货车转向架的主要技术参数;提出了整体焊接构架式有摇枕转向架的结构形式,介绍了其主体结构情况;结合转向架静强度和疲劳试验、线路动力学试验结果,得出了转向架设计是较为成功的结论。     

米轨客车迫导向转向架动力学性能研究

建立了米轨迫导向转向架客车的动力学模型，提出了迫导向机构的等效处理方法，以研究迫导向转向架导向机构参数对客车动力学性能的影响，计算结果表明，增大迫导向机构刚度和增益有利于提高蛇行失稳临界速度和曲线通过能力；连杆间铰链的间隙则对迫导向机构的性能有明显不利的影响。     

抗蛇行减振器对机车运行品质的影响

借助虚拟样机技术和ADAMS/Rail软件,针对国内某型电力机车建立了机车系统详细的动力学仿真模型。利用动力学仿真工具,对抗蛇行减振器的特性进行分析,研究其参数变化、失效等对机车运行性能的影响,得出其规律。