Bifurcation Analysis of Railway Vehicles

Abstract

For identifying the long-time behaviour of nonlinear dynamical systems with respect to the influence of one or more system parameters, numerical bifurcation analysis is an ideal computer aided method. The objective of the paper is to describe a software environment for such an analysis basing ont he principles of path-following or continuation. A specific viewpoint is the application on "realistic", i.e. detailed and complex simulation models of railway vehilces following a multibody system approach. Stationary as well as periodic behaviour is considered. Three major topics are of primary interest: The integration of a bifurcation software into a software package for the simulation of arbitrary mechanical systems; the direct calculation of periodic solutions (limit cycles); and the handling of differential algebraic equations (DAEs). The algorithms are applied finally on the "realistic" simulation model of a high speed railway passenger car.