Geometry and differentiability requirements in multibody railroad vehicle dynamic formulations

The dynamic equations of multibody railroad vehicle systems can be formulated using different sets of generalized coordinates; examples of these sets of coordinates are the absolute Cartesian and trajectory coordinates. The absolute coordinate based formulations do not require introducing an intermediate track coordinate system since all the absolute coordinates are defined in the global system. On the other hand, when the trajectory coordinates are used, a track coordinate system that follows the motion of a body in the railroad vehicle system is introduced. This track coordinate system is defined by the track geometry and the distance traveled by the body along the track centerline. The configuration of the body with respect to the track coordinate system is defined using five coordinates; two translations and three Euler angles. In this paper, the formulations based on the absolute and trajectory coordinates are compared. It is shown that these two sets of coordinates require different degrees of differentiability and smoothness. When an elastic contact formulation is used to study the wheel/rail dynamic interaction, there are significant differences in the order of the derivatives required in both formulations. In fact, as demonstrated in this study, in the absence of a contact constraint formulation, higher order derivatives with respect to geometric parameters are still required when the equations are formulated using the trajectory coordinates. The formulation of the constraints used in the analysis of the wheel/rail contact is discussed and it is shown that when the absolute coordinates are used, only third order derivatives need to be evaluated. The relationship between the track frame used in railroad vehicle dynamics and the Frenet frame used in the theory of curves to describe the curve geometry is also discussed in this paper. Based on the analysis presented in this paper, the advantages and drawbacks of a hybrid method which employs both the absolute and trajectory coordinates and planar contact conditions in order to reduce the number of contact constraints and relax the differentiability requirements are discussed. In this method, the absolute coordinates are used to formulate the equations of motion of the railroad vehicle system. The absolute coordinate solution can be used to determine the trajectory coordinates and their time derivatives. Using the trajectory coordinates, the motion of the body in the vehicle with respect to the track coordinate system can be predicted and used in the formulation of the planar contact model.     

Finite element modeling of contact conditions in multibody system dynamics

In this paper a new method is developed for the dynamic analysis of contact conditions in flexible multibody systems undergoing a rolling type of motion. The relative motion between the two contacting bodies is treated as a constraint condition describing their kinematic and geometric relations. Equations of motion of the system are presented in a matrix form making use of Kane's equations and finite element method. The method developed has been implemented in a general purpose program called DARS and applied to the simulation and analysis of a rotating wheel on a track. Both the bodies are assumed flexible and discretized using a three dimensional 8-noded isoparametric elements. The time variant constraint conditions are imposed on the nodal points located at the peripheral surfaces of the bodies under consideration. The simulation is carried out under two different boundary conditions describing the support of the track. The subsequent constraint forces associated with the generalized coordinates of the system are computed and plotted. The effects of friction are also discussed.     

An Augmented Formulation for Mechanical Systems with Non-Generalized Coordinates: Application to Rigid Body Contact Problems

In computational multibody algorithms, the kinematic constraintequations that describe mechanical joints and specified motiontrajectories must be satisfied at the position, velocity andacceleration levels. For most commonly used constraint equations, onlyfirst and second partial derivatives of position vectors with respect tothe generalized coordinates are required in order to define theconstraint Jacobian matrix and the first and second derivatives of theconstraints with respect to time. When the kinematic and dynamicequations of the multibody systems are formulated in terms of a mixedset of generalized and non-generalized coordinates, higher partialderivatives with respect to these non-generalized coordinates arerequired, and the neglect of these derivatives can lead to significanterrors. In this paper, the implementation of a contact model in generalmultibody algorithms is presented as an example of mechanical systemswith non-generalized coordinates. The kinematic equations that describethe contact between two surfaces of two bodies in the multibody systemare formulated in terms of the system generalized coordinates and thesurface parameters. Each contact surface is defined using twoindependent parameters that completely define the tangent and normalvectors at an arbitrary point on the body surface. In the contact modeldeveloped in this study, the points of contact are searched for on lineduring the dynamic simulation by solving the nonlinear differential andalgebraic equations of the constrained multibody system. It isdemonstrated in this paper that in the case of a point contact andregular surfaces, there is only one independent generalized contactconstraint force despite the fact that five constraint equations areused to enforce the contact conditions.     

基于有限元法的轮轨蠕滑特性研究

轮轨滚动接触蠕滑率／力理论是轮轨相互作用一系列问题研究的基础．现有的几种计算蠕滑力的理论模型均建立在Hertz接触条件和半空间假设的基础上，已经无法完成对复杂的接触问题的进一步研究．使用有限元参数二次规划法来求解轮轨的三维弹性／弹塑性接触问题，得出了在不同的轴重、牵引力矩、摩擦系数、踏面形状、横向力条件下的轮轨接触力．提出用轮轨接触的轮周位移计算蠕滑率的新方法，并对在各种参数下所得到的蠕滑率进行了分析比较．     

Control structure interaction in the nonlinear analysis of flexible mechanical systems

The effect of the control structure interaction on the feedforward control law as well as the dynamics of flexible mechanical systems is examined in this investigation. An inverse dynamics procedure is developed for the analysis of the dynamic motion of interconnected rigid and flexible bodies. This method is used to examine the effect of the elastic deformation on the driving forces in flexible mechanical systems. The driving forces are expressed in terms of the specified motion trajectories and the deformations of the elastic members. The system equations of motion are formulated using Lagrange's equation. A finite element discretization of the flexible bodies is used to define the deformation degrees of freedom. The algebraic constraint equations that describe the motion trajectories and joint constraints between adjacent bodies are adjoined to the system differential equations of motion using the vector of Lagrange multipliers. A unique displacement field is then identified by imposing an appropriate set of reference conditions. The effect of the nonlinear centrifugal and Coriolis forces that depend on the body displacements and velocities are taken into consideration. A direct numerical integration method coupled with a Newton-Raphson algorithm is used to solve the resulting nonlinear differential and algebraic equations of motion. The formulation obtained for the flexible mechanical system is compared with the rigid body dynamic formulation. The effect of the sampling time, number of vibration modes, the viscous damping, and the selection of the constrained modes are examined. The results presented in this numerical study demonstrate that the use of the driving forees obtained using the rigid body analysis can lead to a significant error when these forces are used as the feedforward control law for the flexible mechanical system. The analysis presented in this investigation differs significantly from previously published work in many ways. It includes the effect of the structural flexibility on the centrifugal and Coriolis forces, it accounts for all inertia nonlinearities resulting from the coupling between the rigid body and elastic displacements, it uses a precise definition of the equipollent systems of forces in flexible body dynamics, it demonstrates the use of general purpose multibody computer codes in the feedforward control of flexible mechanical systems, and it demonstrates numerically the effect of the selected set of constrained modes on the feedforward control law.     

轨下支承失效对直线轨道动态响应的影响

建立了基于Timoshenko梁模型的车辆/轨道耦合动力学模型,分析轨下支承失效对直线轨道动态响应的影响. 钢轨被视为连续弹性离散点支承上的无限长Timoshenko梁,通过假设轨道系统刚度沿纵向分布发生突变来模拟轨下支承失效状态. 推导了考虑钢轨横向、垂向和扭转运动的轮轨滚动接触蠕滑率计算公式. 利用Hertz法向接触理论和沈氏蠕滑理论计算轮轨法向力及轮轨滚动接触蠕滑力. 采用移动轨下支承模型的车辆/轨道耦合系统激振模式,考虑轨枕离散支承对系统动力响应的影响. 通过新型显式积分法求解车辆/轨道耦合动力学系统运动方程,由数值分析计算得到不同轨下支承失效状态下直线轨道的动态响应. 结果表明,轨下支承失效对直线轨道变形及加速度有显著的影响,随着失效轨下支承个数的增加,轮轨相互作用力和轨道部件的位移、加速度将会急剧增大,将加速失效区段线路状况的恶化.      

Railway Train-Track Dynamics for Wheelflats with Improved Contact Models

A variety of methods have been proposed to calculate the dynamic response caused by a railway vehicle affected by a wheelflat. Most of the sophisticated procedures evaluate the elastic properties of the wheel-rail contact by means of the Hertz model. However, the hypotheses that must be satisfied in order to apply the Hertzian contact model are not fulfilled when the wheel-rail contact occurs in the area of wheel affected by the flat. This gives rise to deviations in the results of the dynamic model compared to the real situation. With the objective of analysing the influence of the elastic wheel-rail contact model, a procedure was developed to determine the dynamic response caused by a geometric irregularity (in rail or wheel) by means of Hertzian and non-Hertzian contact models. Results of the wheelflat impact simulations given by both types of contact model have been compared in this work.     

不同轮轨接触模型在车桥耦合振动中的比较

以工程实例为研究对象,建立了整车-整桥系统耦合振动数值分析模型。考虑车轮的跳轨和挤密情况,建立了单边弹簧-阻尼系统弹性轮轨接触模型。采用基于多体系统动力学和有限元法结合的联合仿真技术,计算了两种轮轨接触时动车组列车以不同车速通过大跨度连续桥梁的耦合振动响应。数值计算结果表明:两种轮轨接触模型的桥梁动力响应比较接近;列车的横向轮轨力、轮重减载率和脱轨系数相差较大,当速度为350km/h时,横向轮轨力增大了46.5%,轮重减载率增大了130.8%,脱轨系数增大了24.66%;用单边-弹簧阻尼系统弹性轮轨接触模型更符合实际。     

Dynamic analysis of geometrically nonlinear robot manipulators

In this paper, a method for the dynamic analysis of geometrically nonlinear elastic robot manipulators is presented. Robot arm elasticity is introduced using a finite element method which allows for the gross arm rotations. A shape function which accounts for the combined effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation is employed to describe the arm deformation relative to a selected component reference. Geometric elastic nonlinearities are introduced into the formulation by retaining the quadratic terms in the strain-displacement relationships. This has lead to a new stiffness matrix that depends on the rotary inertia and shear deformation and which has to be iteratively updated during the dynamic simulation. Mechanical joints are introduced into the formulation using a set of nonlinear algebraic constraint equations. A set of independent coordinates is identified over each subinterval and is employed to define the system state equations. In order to exemplify the analysis, a two-armed robot manipulator is solved. In this example, the effect of introducing geometric elastic nonlinearities and inertia nonlinearities on the robot arm kinematics, deformations, joint reaction forces and end-effector trajectory are investigated.     

含摩擦与碰撞平面多刚体系统动力学线性互补算法

基于接触力学理论和线性互补问题的算法, 给出了一种含接触、碰撞以及库伦干摩擦, 同时具有理想定常约束(铰链约束) 和非定常约束(驱动约束) 的平面多刚体系统动力学的建模与数值计算方法. 将系统中的每个物体视为刚体, 但考虑物体接触点的局部变形, 将物体间的法向接触力表示成嵌入量与嵌入速度的非线性函数,其切向摩擦力采用库伦干摩擦模型. 利用摩擦余量和接触点的切向加速度等概念, 给出了摩擦定律的互补关系式; 并利用事件驱动法, 将接触点的黏滞-滑移状态切换的判断及黏滞状态下摩擦力的计算问题转化成线性互补问题的求解. 利用第一类拉格朗日方程和鲍姆加藤约束稳定化方法建立了系统的动力学方程, 由此可降低约束的漂移, 并可求解该系统的运动、法向接触力和切向摩擦力, 还可以求解理想铰链约束力和驱动约束力. 最后以一个类似夯机的平面多刚体系统为例, 分析了其动力学特性, 并说明了相关算法的有效性.      

A comparative study of joint formulations: application to multibody system tracked vehicles

This paper is focused on the dynamic formulation of mechanical joints using different approaches that lead to different models with different numbers of degrees of freedom. Some of these formulations allow for capturing the joint deformations using a discrete elastic model while the others are continuum-based and capture joint deformation modes that cannot be captured using the discrete elastic joint models. Specifically, three types of joint formulations are considered in this investigation; the ideal, compliant discrete element, and compliant continuum-based joint models. The ideal joint formulation, which does not allow for deformation degrees of freedom in the case of rigid body or small deformation analysis, requires introducing a set of algebraic constraint equations that can be handled in computational multibody system (MBS) algorithms using two fundamentally different approaches: constrained dynamics approach and penalty method. When the constrained dynamics approach is used, the constraint equations must be satisfied at the position, velocity, and acceleration levels. The penalty method, on the other hand, ensures that the algebraic equations are satisfied at the position level only. In the compliant discrete element joint formulation, no constraint conditions are used; instead the connectivity conditions between bodies are enforced using forces that can be defined in their most general form in MBS algorithms using bushing elements that allow for the definition of general nonlinear forces and moments. The new compliant continuum-based joint formulation, which is based on the finite element (FE) absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF), has several advantages: (1) It captures modes of joint deformations that cannot be captured using the compliant discrete joint models; (2) It leads to linear connectivity conditions, thereby allowing for the elimination of the dependent variables at a preprocessing stage; (3) It leads to a constant inertia matrix in the case of chain like structure; and (4) It automatically captures the deformation of the bodies using distributed inertia and elasticity. The formulations of these three different joint models are compared in order to shed light on the fundamental differences between them. Numerical results of a detailed tracked vehicle model are presented in order to demonstrate the implementation of some of the formulations discussed in this investigation.     

Track dynamic behavior at rail welds at high speed

As a vehicle passing through a track with different weld irregularities, the dynamic performance of track com- ponents is investigated in detail by using a coupled vehi- cle-track model. In the model, the vehicle is modeled as a multi-body system with 35 degrees of freedom, and a Timoshenko beam is used to model the rails which are dis- cretely supported by sleepers. In the track model, the sleepers are modeled as rigid bodies accounting for their vertical, lat- eral and rolling motions and assumed to move backward at a constant speed to simulate the vehicle running along the track at the same speed. In the study of the coupled vehicle and track dynamics, the Hertizian contact theory and the theory proposed by Shen-Hedrick-Elkins are, respectively, used to calculate normal and creep forces between the wheel and the rails. In the calculation of the normal forces, the coefficient of the normal contact stiffness is determined by transient contact condition of the wheel and rail surface. In the calcu- lation of the creepages, the lateral, roll-over motions of the rail and the fact that the relative velocity between the wheel and rail in their common normal direction is equal to zero are simultaneously taken into account. The motion equations of the vehicle and track are solved by means of an explicit integration method, in which the rail weld irregularities are modeled as local track vertical deviations described by some ideal cosine functions. The effects of the train speed, the axle load, the wavelength and depth of the irregularities, and the weld center position in a sleeper span on the wheel-rail impact loading are analyzed. The numerical results obtained are greatly useful in the tolerance design of welded rail pro- file irregularity caused by hand-grinding after rail welding and track maintenances.     

轮轨滚动接触力学的发展

轮轨滚动接触力学主要研究轮轨滚动接触过程中的作用行为。由于其研究的复杂性,目前在该领域的研究已基本形成既独立又关联的六个分支,它们分别是轮轨滚动接触蠕滑率/力理论、轮轨粘着、接触表面波浪形磨损、轮轨滚动疲劳、脱轨和轮轨噪音。本文综述了这几个方面研究的发展历史和现状。由于轮轨滚动接触作用的研究又是以轮轨滚动接触蠕滑率/力理论为基础的,故本文着重评述目前常用于车辆/轨道动力学和轮轨关系研究中几个经典滚动接触理论模型的优缺点。根据实际工程中轮轨作用存在的严重问题,并提出轮轨滚动接触理论及其试验在今后的研究方向和所要考虑的有关重要因素。      

Dynamic recursive decoupling method for closed-loop flexible mechanical systems

In this paper, a new method for the dynamic analysis of a closed-loop flexible kinematic mechanical system is presented. The kinematic and force models are developed using absolute reference, joint relative, and elastic coordinates as well as joint reaction forces. This recursive formulation leads to a system of loosely coupled equations of motion. In a closed-loop kinematic chain, cuts are made at selected auxiliary joints in order to form spanning tree structures. Compatibility conditions and reaction force relationships at the auxiliary joints are adjoined to the equations of open-loop mechanical systems in order to form closed-loop dynamic equations. Using the sparse matrix structure of these equations and the fact that the joint reaction forces associated with elastic degrees of freedom do not represent independent variables, a method for decoupling the joint and elastic accelerations is developed. Unlike existing recursive formulations, this method does not require inverse or factorization of large non-linear matrices. It leads to small systems of equations whose dimensions are independent of the number of elastic degrees of freedom. The application of dynamic decoupling method in dynamic analysis of closed-loop deformable multibody systems is also discussed in this paper. The use of the numerical algorithm developed in this investigation is illustrated by a closed-loop flexible four-bar mechanism.     

Equilibrium of a Prestressed Strip Reinforced with Elastic Plates

The contact problem for a prestressed elastic strip reinforced with equally spaced elastic plates is considered. The Fourier integral transform is used to construct an influence function of a unit concentrated force acting on the infinite elastic strip with one edge constrained. The transmission of forces from the thin elastic plates to the prestressed strip is analyzed. On the assumption that the beam bending model and the uniaxial stress model are valid for an elastic plate subjected to both vertical and horizontal forces, the problem is mathematically formulated as a system of integro-differential equations for unknown contact stresses. This system is reduced to an infinite system of algebraic equations solved by the reduction method. The effect of the initial stresses on the distribution of contact forces in the strip under tension and compression is studied     

Three-Dimensional Large Deformation Analysis of the Multibody Pantograph/Catenary Systems

To accurately model the nonlinear behavior of the pantograph/catenary systems, it is necessary to take into consideration the effect of the large deformation of the catenary and its interaction with the nonlinear pantograph system dynamics. The large deformation of the catenary is modeled in this investigation using the three-dimensional finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation. To model the interaction between the pantograph and the catenary, a sliding joint that allows for the motion of the pan-head on the catenary cable is formulated. To this end, a non-generalized arc-length parameter is introduced in order to be able to accurately predict the location of the point of contact between the pan-head and the catenary. The resulting system of differential and algebraic equations formulated in terms of reference coordinates, finite element absolute nodal coordinates, and non-generalized arc-length and contact surface parameters are solved using computational multibody system algorithms. A detailed three-dimensional multibody railroad vehicle model is developed to demonstrate the use of the formulation presented in this paper. In this model, the interaction between the wheel and the rail is considered. For future research, a method is proposed to deal with the problem of the loss of contact between the pan-head and the catenary cable.     

Computer Implementation of the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation for Flexible Multibody Dynamics

Deformable components in multibody systems are subject to kinematic constraints that represent mechanical joints and specified motion trajectories. These constraints can, in general, be described using a set of nonlinear algebraic equations that depend on the system generalized coordinates and time. When the kinematic constraints are augmented to the differential equations of motion of the system, it is desirable to have a formulation that leads to a minimum number of non-zero coefficients for the unknown accelerations and constraint forces in order to be able to exploit efficient sparse matrix algorithms. This paper describes procedures for the computer implementation of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation' for flexible multibody applications. In the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, no infinitesimal or finite rotations are used as nodal coordinates. The configuration of the finite element is defined using global displacement coordinates and slopes. By using this mixed set of coordinates, beam and plate elements can be treated as isoparametric elements. As a consequence, the dynamic formulation of these widely used elements using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation leads to a constant mass matrix. It is the objective of this study to develop computational procedures that exploit this feature. In one of these procedures, an optimum sparse matrix structure is obtained for the deformable bodies using the QR decomposition. Using the fact that the element mass matrix is constant, a QR decomposition of a modified constant connectivity Jacobian matrix is obtained for the deformable body. A constant velocity transformation is used to obtain an identity generalized inertia matrix associated with the second derivatives of the generalized coordinates, thereby minimizing the number of non-zero entries of the coefficient matrix that appears in the augmented Lagrangian formulation of the equations of motion of the flexible multibody systems. An alternate computational procedure based on Cholesky decomposition is also presented in this paper. This alternate procedure, which has the same computational advantages as the one based on the QR decomposition, leads to a square velocity transformation matrix. The computational procedures proposed in this investigation can be used for the treatment of large deformation problems in flexible multibody systems. They have also the advantages of the algorithms based on the floating frame of reference formulations since they allow for easy addition of general nonlinear constraint and force functions.     

A new approach for dynamic analysis of flexible manipulator systems

In this paper, a new approach for dynamic analysis of the flexible multibody manipulator systems is described. The organization of the computer implementations which are used to automatically construct and numerically solve the system of loosely coupled dynamic equations expressed in terms of the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates is discussed. The main processor source code consists of three main modules: constraint module, mass module and force module. The constraint module is used to numerically evaluate the relationship between the absolute and joint accelerations. The mass module is used to numerically evaluate the system mass matrix as well as the non-linear Coriolis and centrifugal forces associated with the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates. At the same time, the force module is used to numerically evaluate the generalized external and elastic forces associated with the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates. Computational efficiency is achieved by taking advantage of the structure of the resulting system of loosely coupled equations. The absolute, joint and elastic accelerations are integrated forward in time using direct numerical integration methods. The absolute positions and velocities can then be determined using the kinematic relationships. The flexible 2-DOF double-pendulum and spatial manipulator systems are used as illustrated examples to demonstrate and verify the application of the computational procedures discussed in this paper.