Model Based Analysis of Failure Modes in Railway Pneumatic Suspensions

For several decades, pneumatic suspensions have been used on most of passenger trains. This technology has many advantages such as the possibility of controlling the carbody height, the adaptive stiffness with payload, etc. It relies on the use of air springs but also implies a complete pneumatic circuit composed of auxiliary tanks, pipes and various valves. Consequently, such a complex system requires the development of specific modelling techniques for understanding its dynamic behaviour. Furthermore, as recommended by the UIC~518 standard, the various failure modes that may arise on a train, not only for the pneumatic suspension, have to be identified. Regarding this question, the various components of the pneumatic suspension can increase the possibility of breakdowns. The goal of this paper is thus to show how we can quantify the consequences of a failure of one element thanks to the developed models, as needed by the rail industry.\\ In the first part of this paper, we describe the analysed vehicle and some potential failure mode that could arise on its pneumatic suspension. Then, we briefly present the modelling approach based on mass and energy balances. Finally, we focus on a specific failure mode and we show how we can analyse its consequences on the vehicle behaviour in a specific situation.

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Docquier, N., Fisette, P., & Jeanmart, H. (2011). Model Based Analysis of Failure Modes in Railway Pneumatic Suspensions. 22nd IAVSD Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and Tracks, Manchester, United Kingdom. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/230898