Random vibration analysis procedure of railway vehicle

In this paper, the development of railway vehicles random analysis procedure (RVRAP) based on the pseudo-excitation theory is described in detail; the procedure helps predict the structural random response of railway vehicle. As traditional finite element method (FEM)-based random vibration analyses are too complex, and time consuming to be carried out by engineer, limited studies have been conducted in the related field. By using the pseudo excitation method (PEM), a stochastic vibration analysis of the railway vehicle system is conducted while the vehicle is modelled by FEM and its mode results are stored as substructures. With the primary and secondary suspension system, the FE-based vehicle configuration is assembled, a structural random vibration analysis is conducted, and the running quality and fatigue life is predicted accurately. Experimental results are compared with the those of a railway vehicle numerical simulation; the accuracy of the random vibration vehicle system is tested and the reliability of the PVRAP is verified.