The use of a linear half-vehicle model for the optimization of damping in the passive suspension system of a railway car

The paper presents a methodology of optimizing the parameters of the passive suspension system of a railway vehicle. A linear half-vehicle model and an example of the procedure carried out to optimize a selected parameter of the model have been demonstrated. A method of the selection of damping in the suspension system of a railway vehicle, based on over 40-year achievements of the cited authors of publications in the field of motor vehicles, has been shown. The optimization of linear damping in the secondary suspension system of a passenger carriage moving on a track with random profile irregularities has been described in detail. The algorithms adopted for the calculations have a wider range of applicability; especially, they may be used for determining the optimum values of the other parameters of the railway vehicle model under analysis, i.e. stiffness of the secondary suspension system as well as stiffness and damping of the primary suspension system.