Prevention of Carbody Vibration of Railway Vehicles due to Rotation of Imbalanced Wheelsets and Validation Using Full Scale Vehicles

This paper describes a simple and cost effective countermeasure to prevent carbody vibration of railway vehicles due to rotation of wheelset(s) with small mass imbalance by applying a displacement-dependent rubber bush in traction links. The displacement-dependent property is realized by introducing a small gap between the rubber and the inner fixture, and transmission of the excitation force from bogie to carbody is isolated by the gap. Excitation tests using a full-scale test vehicle to verify the vibration isolation performance, and running stability testing with a bogie are carried out in the rolling stock testing plant at Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI). Then a series of running tests on a commercial line is conducted and the effectiveness of the displacement-dependent rubber bush has been confirmed.