From Scaled Experiments of Mechatronic Guidance to Multibody Simulations of DLR’s Next Generation Train Set

The paper presents the progress of control development for mechatronic guidance within the DLR-internal project Next Generation Train. It reports on the implementation of the control on the experimental running gear hardware operated at the scale 1:5 roller rig at DLR. The state feedback control synthesis utilizes the parameter space approach in order to explicitly consider varying conicities. A feed-forward controller is introduced by model inversion. The resulting control performance is demonstrated by measurements. Then, the approach is transferred and applied to a full scale multibody model of the NGT train set. Specific measures are required to account for gyroscopic effects in transition curves, where the superelevation of the track is in- or decreasing. Simulation results document the achievements of the control design and validate the underlying considerations.