Lateral semi-active suspension of tilting train

Abstract

To improve train ride quality, a lateral semi-active suspension has been developed and subjected to a running test. Typical tilting trains of Japan have too small resistance in their tilting mechanism to apply this semi-active suspension system. To make an effective semi-active suspension, a changeable tilting damper has been developed and tested with semi-active suspension. As a result, the following have been verified. (1) The semi-active suspension without changeable tilting damper suppresses the lateral vibration of carbody about 20-30%. (2) Its performance becomes worse at the end of a traverse curve. (3) The changeable tilting damper improves the performance of semi-active suspension. (4) Using both semi-active suspension and changeable tilting damper is an effective way to improve the ride comfort of tilting trains.