Proposal for systematic studies of active suspension failures in rail vehicles

Abstract

Application of active suspensions in high-speed passenger trains is gradually getting more and more common. Active suspensions are primarily aimed at improving ride comfort, wear or stability. Failure of these systems may not only just deteriorate the performance but it may also put vehicle safety at risk. There are not many studies that explain how a thorough study proving safety of active suspension should be performed. Therefore, initiating this type of study is necessary for not only preventing incidences but also for assuring acceptance of active suspension by rail vehicle operators and authorities. This study proposes a flowchart for systematic studies of active suspension failures in rail vehicles. The flowchart steps are solidified by using failure mode and effects analysis and fault tree analysis techniques and also acceptance criteria from the EN14363 standard. Furthermore, six failure modes are introduced which are very general and their use can be extended to other studies of active suspension failure. In the last section of the paper, the proposed flowchart is put into practice through four failure examples of active vertical suspension.