The DLR RailwayDynamics Library: the Crosswind Stability Problem

Abstract

High crosswinds affect the stability of railway vehicles, in particular if they run on very high speed to reduce traveling time, if they are configured as double-deck cars to increase the number of passenger seats and if they use lightweight design in order to reduce life-cycle costs. This is why crosswind stability is an active field of research within the project Next Generation Train. However, this field relies on the cooperation of two different domains, namely aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics. With this background a crosswind stability tool was implemented in Modelica as a part of the DLR RailwayDynamics Library. This tool gathers data from scaled wind tunnel measurements and multibody data on the railway vehicle in order to rapidly analyze and assess the risk of overturning due to high crosswinds. To a large extent the tool is oriented towards the associated homologation rules and standards. However, the tool is as well supposed to support future advancements of these standards by providing capabilities for the stochastic analysis of the crosswind stability problem.