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With the continuous increase in the operating speed of high-speed trains, the wear and tear of rails on high-speed lines has also gradually deteriorated. At present, the phenomenon of asymmetric wear of rails in high-speed lines is relatively serious. This paper aims to analyze the effect of three typical rail profile wear on vehicle operation performance.

To solve this problem, by analyzing the wheel-rail contact relationship and establishing a vehicle dynamics model, the influence of worn typical rail profiles on the vehicle’s dynamic performance and carbody abnormal vibration is analyzed. Additionally, the effect of worn rail profiles on wheel wear is analyzed using a wear model.

The results showed that, compared to the standard rail profile, the three typical wear rail profiles show an increase in normal contact stress. The ride and safety indexes of the three rail profiles also increased compared with the CHN60 profile. The rail Profile 3 does not affect carbody vibration, while Profile 1 and Profile 2 can cause hunting vibrations of the carbody, with the main vibration frequencies around 7 Hz. The wheel wear depths under three typical rail profiles are 1.185 mm, 1.11 mm and 1.058 mm.

The effect of the measured typical rail profiles on the vehicle’s performance is analyzed, particularly in terms of abnormal vibrations and wheel wear. This analysis can provide guidance for the long-term maintenance of the rail system.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-08-2023-0270/

In this paper, improvements in reducing transmitted accelerations in a full vehicle are obtained by optimizing the gain parameters of an active control in a roughness road profile.

For a classically designed linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control, the vibration attenuation performance will depend on weighting matrices Q and R. A methodology is proposed in this work to determine the optimal elements of these matrices by using a genetic algorithm method to get enhanced controller performance. The active control is implemented in an eight degrees of freedom (8-DOF) vehicle suspension model, subjected to a standard ISO road profile. The control performance is compared against a controlled system with few Q and R parameters, an active system without optimized gain matrices, and an optimized passive system.

The control with 12 optimized parameters for Q and R provided the best vibration attenuation, reducing significantly the Root Mean Square (RMS) accelerations at the driver’s seat and car body.

The research has positive implications in a wide class of active control systems, especially those based on a LQR, which was verified by the multibody dynamic systems tested in the paper.

Better active control gains can be devised to improve performance in vibration attenuation.

The main contribution proposed in this work is the improvement of the Q and R parameters simultaneously, in a full 8-DOF vehicle model, which minimizes the driver’s seat acceleration and, at the same time, guarantees vehicle safety.

With the increased speed and mileage of high-speed lines, the problem of rail wear is increasing. In actual operation, a large number of abnormal wear phenomena occur on both vehicles and rails during fixed line operation; therefore, the purpose of the study is to explored the rail wear for a variety of vehicles running in mixed operation.

This paper used the universal mechanism multibody dynamics software to establish the CRH2 high speed train (HST) and the CRH3 HST vehicle dynamic models, respectively. The mixed running of HSTs on the effect of rail wear evolution law was analyzed. The rail wear of the two vehicles with different curve radii, different wheel diameters and different under-rail stiffness was compared and analyzed.

The result showed that the rail wear of CRH3 HST is greater than that of CRH2 HST. The rail wear in the tangent track under mixed operation conditions is 25.4% less than when CRH3 HST operated independently. When there is a 1-mm wheel diameter difference, the maximum rail wear of CRH2 HST and CRH3 HST increases by 263% and 44%, respectively. The amount of rail wear is proportional to the under-rail stiffness, and the position of the maximum wear is almost unchanged.

Most studies on the evolution law of rail wear are conducted for a single vehicle type and a single line. This study explored the mixed running of HSTs on the effect of rail wear evolution law.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-08-2023-0276/

According to relevant research, non-uniform speed has a significant impact on the vehicle-track systems. Up to now, research work on it is still very limited. In this paper, the PEM is adopted to further transform it into a deterministic process to solve the vehicle’s problem of running at a non-uniform speed.

The multi-body vehicle model has 10 degrees of freedom and the track is regarded as a finite long beam supported by lumped sleepers and ballast blocks. They are connected via linear Hertz springs. The vertical track irregularity is a Gaussian stationary process in the space domain. It is transformed into a uniformly modulated nonstationary random process in the time domain with respect to the non-uniform vehicle speed. By solving the equation of motion of the coupled vehicle-track system with the pseudo-excitation method, the pseudo-response and consequently the power spectral density and the standard deviation of the structural response can be obtained.

Two kinds of vehicle braking programs are taken in the numerical example and some beneficial conclusions are drawn.

The pseudo-excitation method (PEM) was used to perform the random vibration analysis of a coupled non-uniform speed vehicle-track system. Transforming the track irregularity into a uniformly modulated nonstationary random process in time domain with respect to the non-uniform vehicle speed was undertaken. The pseudo-response of the coupled system is solved by applying the Newmark algorithm with constant space integral steps. The random vibration transfer mechanism of the coupled system is fully discussed.

In the post-capture stage, the tumbling target rotates the combined spacecraft system, and the detumbling operation performed by the space robot is required. To save the costly onboard fuel of the space robot, this paper aims to present a novel post-capture detumbling strategy.

Actuated by the joint rotations of the manipulator, the combined system is driven from three-axis tumbling state to uniaxial rotation about its maximum principal axis. Only unidirectional thrust perpendicular to the axis is needed to slow down the uniaxial rotation, thus saving the thruster fuel. The optimization problem of the collision-free detumbling trajectory of the space robot is described, and it is optimized by the particle swarm optimization algorithm.

The numerical simulation results show that along the trajectory planned by the detumbling strategy, the maneuver of the manipulator can precisely drive the combined system to rotate around its maximum principal axis, and the final kinetic energy of the combined system is smaller than the initial. The unidirectional thrust and the lower kinetic energy can ensure the fuel-saving in the subsequent detumbling stage.

This paper presents a post-capture detumbling strategy to drive the combined system from three-axis tumbling state to uniaxial rotation about its maximum principal axis by redistributing the angular momentum of the parts of the combined system. The strategy reduces the thrust torque for detumbling to effectively save the thruster fuel.

The paper aims to expand the scope of application of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), especially in the field of aircraft engineering. The traditional LBM is usually applied to incompressible flows at a low Reynolds number, which is not sufficient to satisfy the needs of aircraft engineering. Devoted to tackling the defect, the paper proposes a developed LBM combining the subgrid model and the multiple relaxation time (MRT) approach. A multilayer adaptive Cartesian grid method to improve the computing efficiency of the traditional LBM is also employed.

The subgrid model and the multilayer adaptive Cartesian grid are introduced into MRT-LBM for simulations of incompressible flows at a high Reynolds number. Validated by several typical flow simulations, the numerical methods in this paper can efficiently study the flows under high Reynolds numbers.

Some numerical simulations for the lid-driven flow of cavity, flow around iced GLC305, LB606b and ONERA-M6 are completed. The paper presents the investigation results, indicating that the methods are accurate and effective for the separated flow after icing.

LBM is developed with the addition of the subgrid model and the MRT method. A numerical strategy is proposed using a multilayer adaptive Cartesian grid method and its treatment of boundary conditions. The paper refers to innovative algorithm developments and applications to the aircraft engineering, especially for iced wing simulations with flow separations.

The patient-side manipulator (PSM) achieves high torque capability by combining harmonic servo system with high reduction ratio and low torque motor. However, high reduction ratio can increase inertia and decrease compliance of the manipulator. To enhance the backdrivability of the minimally invasive surgical robot, this paper aims to propose a resistance torque compensation algorithm.

A resistance torque compensation algorithm based on dynamics and Luenberger observer is proposed. The dynamics are established, considering joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model. The dynamic parameters are experimentally identified by using the least squares method. With the advantages of clear structure, simple implementation and fast solution speed, the Luenberger observer is selected to estimate the unmeasured dynamic information of PSM and realize the resistance torque compensation.

For low-speed surgical robots, the centrifugal force term in the dynamic model can be simplified to reduce computational complexity. Joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model can be considered to improve the accuracy of the dynamic model. Experiment results show that parameter identification and estimated results of the Luenberger observer are accurate. The backdrivability of the PSM is enhanced in ease and smoothness.

This algorithm provides potential application prospects for surgical robots to maintain high torque while remaining compliant. Meanwhile, the enhanced backdrivability of the manipulator helps to improve the safety of the preoperative manual adjustment.

The serious wear problem of heavy-haul freight vehicle wheels affects the safety and economy of vehicle operation. This paper aims to study wheel wear evolution law and the influence of line parameters on wheel wear of heavy-haul freight, and provide the basis for operation and line maintenance.

The wheel wear test data of heavy-haul freight vehicles were analyzed. Then a heavy-haul freight vehicle dynamic model was established. The line parameters influencing wheel wear in heavy-haul freight vehicles were also analyzed by the Jendel wear model, and the effects of rail cant, rail gauge, rail profile and line ramp on wheel wear were analyzed.

A rail cant of 1:40 results in less wheel wear; an increase in the rail gauge can reduce wheel wear; and when matched with the CHN60 rail, the wear depth is relatively small. A decrease of 9.21% in wheel wear depth when matched with the CHN60 rail profile. The ramp of the heavy-haul line is necessary to consider for calculating wheel wear. When the ramp is considered, the wear depth increases by 8.47%. The larger the ramp, the greater the braking force and therefore, the greater of the wheel wear.

This paper first summarizes the wear characteristics of wheels in heavy-haul freight vehicles and then systematically analyzes the effect of line parameters on wheel wear. In particular, this study researched the effects of rail cant, rail gauge, rail profile and line ramp on wheel wear.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2024-0038/

To authenticate the existence and principles of the adhesion recovery phenomenon under water pollution conditions, an innovative circumferential rail–wheel adhesion test rig was used. The study conducted extensive tests on the adhesion characteristics under large sliding conditions.

Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of speed, axle load and slip on adhesion recovery. Based on the experimental results, the adhesion recovery transition function was re-fitted.

The study reveals that the adhesion recovery phenomenon truly exists under water conditions. The adhesion coefficient shows an increasing trend with the growth of the slip ratio. Moreover, at the current speed and axle load levels, the adhesion recovery is directly proportional to the square of the slip ratio and inversely proportional to the axle load.

The phenomenon of adhesion recovery and the formulated equations in this study can serve as an experimental and theoretical foundation for the design of braking and anti-skid control algorithms for trains.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2023-0379/

The safety and reliability of high-speed trains rely on the structural integrity of their components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system. This paper aims to define and substantiate the assessment of the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains in both theory and practice. The key principles and approaches will be proposed, and their applications to high-speed trains in China will be presented.

First, the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains are defined, and their relationship is introduced. Then, the principles for assessing the structural integrity of structural and dynamical components are presented and practical examples of gearboxes and dampers are provided. Finally, the principles and approaches for assessing the dynamical integrity of high-speed trains are presented and a novel operational assessment method is further presented.

Vehicle system dynamics is the core of the proposed framework that provides the loads and vibrations on train components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system. For assessing the structural integrity of structural components, an open-loop analysis considering both normal and abnormal vehicle conditions is needed. For assessing the structural integrity of dynamical components, a closed-loop analysis involving the influence of wear and degradation on vehicle system dynamics is needed. The analysis of vehicle system dynamics should follow the principles of complete objects, conditions and indices. Numerical, experimental and operational approaches should be combined to achieve effective assessments.

The practical applications demonstrate that assessing the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains can support better control of critical defects, better lifespan management of train components and better maintenance decision-making for high-speed trains.