Track: Manufacturing

Abstract

Adaptive control are often employed to improve the performance of rail car in terms of stability, safety and ride comfort. In this study, a PID controlled active suspension system was designed, modelled and simulated. The parameters investigated include; the vertical and pitch acceleration as well as the rate of rejection of input and output disturbances. The developed model for the linear rail car suspension system of two degrees of freedom was formulated using the equation of motion while the simulation was performed in the Matlab Simulink 2017 environment. Also, the PID controller was used to fine tune the systems performance according to the Ziegler-Nichols tuning rules.  The results obtained show that the designed PID controlled active suspension system is highly efficient in minimizing the effect of load and rail disturbances as the magnitude of the parameters investigated were kept within the permissible limits. This enhances ride comfort, safety and good stability.Adaptive control are often employed to improve the performance of rail car in terms of stability, safety and ride comfort. In this study, a PID controlled active suspension system was designed, modelled and simulated. The parameters investigated include; the vertical and pitch acceleration as well as the rate of rejection of input and output disturbances. The developed model for the linear rail car suspension system of two degrees of freedom was formulated using the equation of motion while the simulation was performed in the Matlab Simulink 2017 environment. Also, the PID controller was used to fine tune the systems performance according to the Ziegler-Nichols tuning rules.  The results obtained show that the designed PID controlled active suspension system is highly efficient in minimizing the effect of load and rail disturbances as the magnitude of the parameters investigated were kept within the permissible limits. This enhances ride comfort, safety and good stability.