Global sensitivity analysis of bogie dynamics with respect to suspension components

Journal article, 2016

The effects of bogie primary and secondary suspension stiffness and damping characteristics on the dynamics behavior of a high speed train are scrutinized based on the multiplicative dimensional reduction method. A one-car railway vehicle model is chosen for the analysis at two levels of the bogie suspension system: symmetric and asymmetric configurations. Several operational scenarios including straight and circular curved tracks are considered, and measurement data are used as the track irregularities. Ride comfort, safety, and wear objective functions are specified to evaluate the vehicle’s performance. In order to have an appropriate cut center for the sensitivity analysis, the genetic algorithm optimization routine is employed to optimize the primary and secondary suspension components in terms of wear and comfort, respectively. The global sensitivity indices are introduced and the Gaussian quadrature integrals are employed to evaluate the simplified sensitivity indices correlated to the objective functions. The most influential suspension components are recognized and a thorough analysis of the results is given. The outcomes of the current research provide informative data that can be beneficial in design and optimization of passive and active suspension components for high speed train bogies.