Measurements and simulations of rail vehicle dynamics with respect to overturning risk

Rail vehicles are exposed to strong lateral influences through curves, track imperfections and crosswind leading to large deflections of the vehicle suspension systems and carbody displacements. In turn, this increases the risk of vehicle overturning. In the present work, multibody simulations are performed in order to study the motion in the secondary suspension. Suspension deflection measurements on a fast test train were carried out and used for validation of the simulations. The simulations show good agreement with the measurements and represent a good tool to predict the motion in the secondary suspension.