Simulation of a high-speed maglev train on an elastic guideway of infinite length

Abstract

Simulations of the coupled vehicle/guideway dynamics are an essential part in the development of high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) systems with higher speed than traveled so far. In this contribution, a two-dimensional rigid multibody model mapping the heave-pitch motion of the vehicle is presented and used for dynamics simulations of the vehicle traveling along an infinite elastic guideway. The concept of moving system boundaries is applied for the guideway model to efficiently implement an infinite series of elastic Euler-Bernoulli beams while keeping the number of system states small. Guideway deflection interpolation and computation of equivalent nodal forces and torques are realized using Hermite polynomials. Together with a physically advanced magnet model and a model predictive control scheme, the coupled system is applied for vehicle and guideway dynamics analysis for different vehicle speeds and guideway elasticities.