Title: Improved compatibility between the lateral stability and curving behaviour of modified truck designs

Authors: R.V. Dukkipati, S. Narayanaswamy

Addresses: School of Engineering, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT 06430-5195, USA. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract: Modified railway passenger truck designs are considered to improve the comparability between dynamic stability and the ability of the vehicle to steer around curves. A comparative study on the nonlinear steady state curving behaviour of some unconventional truck designs reveals that a modified truck design in which the primary suspension in the leading axle is different from the trailing axle - known as the unsymmetrical suspension truck - has the potential to achieve overall superior performance compared to other truck models considered in this paper.

Keywords: creep coefficients; curving behaviour; dynamic stability; lateral stability; modified truck designs; NUCARS; passenger truck; truck stability; unconventional truck; unsymmetrical suspension.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2004.004029

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2004 Vol.11 No.1, pp.1 - 25

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article