Co-simulation methods for multidisciplinary problems in railway dynamics

Pedro Cabaço Antunes

Key information

Authors:

Pedro Cabaço Antunes (Pedro Cabaço Antunes)

Supervisors:

Jorge Alberto Cadete Ambrósio (Jorge Alberto Cadete Ambrósio); João Carlos Elói de Jesus Pombo (João Carlos Elói de Jesus Pombo)

Published in

10/22/2018

Abstract

The railway system is increasingly becoming a key-player in worldwide transport policies where besides the problems of sustainability, the railway also offers a reliable and efficient mode of transport with recognized high levels of safety and comfort. The development of computer resources allowed for computer simulations to be an essential part of the design and research process of railway systems. The quest for novel solutions for the increasing demands for network capacity, either by increasing the traffic speed or the axle loads, put pressure on the existing infrastructures that find the computational analysis of potential solutions a tool for their virtual testing. The dynamic analysis of modern railway systems involves complex multidisciplinary problems for which the most recent computer codes for railway applications, in general, only allow the study of a particular phenomenon at a time, each with its own complex mathematical model. By analysing such phenomena independently, it is not possible to capture all the dynamics of the complete railway system if relevant coupling phenomena exist. Multibody dynamics formulations are the basis for the most efficient computational techniques that deal with large overall motion, being able to handle intricate models which include a large number of mechanical and structural components and exhibit complex interactions. Formulations based on linear or nonlinear finite element methods provide the most powerful and versatile procedures to describe the flexibility of the system components and some of their interactions. Correspondingly, in railway applications, the vehicle dynamics are better analysed by using a multibody dynamics formulation in which the large relative motion between the vehicle components is well described. The surrounding structures composed by the overhead catenary and the track, with which the vehicle interacts, are better described via detailed finite element models, analysed in dedicated finite element based formulations.