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A constrained motion perspective of railway vehicles collision

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Abstract

Impacts, friction, and normal contact forces occur in the railway vehicles couplers. This paper presents a novel nonsmooth model of the train collision; until now, only penalized models have been approached. The train dynamics is described by an equality of measures formulated at the velocity level. The equations of motion are integrated using the Moreau time-stepping algorithm. Impulsive and normal contact forces are described by a set-valued law of Signorini type, while friction forces are described by a set-valued law of Coulomb type. The constrained forces are computed deducing a particular, simplified formulation of the Udwadia–Kalaba equations. The resulting algorithm is simple and straightforward. Both impulsive and nonimpulsive dynamics are casted in the same framework. Any feature or situation regarding train collisions may be modeled. A demonstrative application is presented. Simulations reveal nonsmooth phenomena like simultaneous multiple collisions, stick-slip, captures, and offset in the final equilibrium position.

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Acknowledgements

The work has been cofounded by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007–2013 of the Romanian Ministry of Labour, Family, and Social Protection through the Financial Agreement POSDRU/89/1.5/S/62557.

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  1. Railway Vehicles Engineering Department, University Politehnica of Bucharest, str. Rucar 12, sl, Bucharest, 012257, Romania

    Razvan Andrei Oprea

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Oprea, R.A. A constrained motion perspective of railway vehicles collision. Multibody Syst Dyn 30, 101–116 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11044-013-9368-5

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