Numerical and experimental approach for the evaluation of severe longitudinal dynamics of heavy freight trains

The paper presents an analysis of heavy freight train dynamics carried out both from a numerical and experimental point of view. A numerical procedure has been developed to investigate the dynamics of heavy freight trains; the proposed methodology combines a new numerical model designed for the longitudinal dynamics of the whole trainset called TSDyn (TrainSet Dynamics simulator) with a multi-body code named MoNSTram (Modular Non-Stationary TRAMcar dynamics simulator) originally developed to analyse the dynamics of modular tramcars and used for a more detailed investigation of the response of a trainset segment. On-line tests have been carried out aiming at acquiring data both for the validation of the simulation code and for the characterisation of buffers’ response. A numerical analysis is eventually presented to show the effect of trainset composition on running safety.