Experimental and numerical investigations on longitudinal vibration of suspended monorail trains induced by bogie pitching motion

The longitudinal harmonic vibrations found in the suspended monorail train (SMT) seriously affected the ride quality and dynamic behaviour. In this work, the experimental and simulated analyses are carried out to reveal the essential phenomenon, occurring mechanism and possible solutions to this issue. Firstly, the ride quality and vibration transmission of the tested SMT system are investigated. It is found that the longitudinal vibrations with the frequency of 2.7Hz occur to the carbody, bogie frame and suspension of the train system. Due to the secondary suspension is lower than the gravity center of the bogie frame, the bogie pitch motion with low damping ratio can be easily excited. The longitudinal components of the bogie pitch motion will transfer to the carbody and wheelset through traction rod and primary suspension, respectively. After that, the multibody dynamic model of a suspended monorail train is developed. Based on the numerical model, some parametric simulations, e.g. rubber stiffness, traction rod height and secondary damping, etc., are carried out to propose solutions to relieve the longitudinal vibrations. Finally, the field tests for the SMT arranging the longitudinal dampers are conducted to verify its improvement to longitudinal vibrations.