Keywords: railway, vehicle dynamics, simulation, experiment, derailment, deviation.

In joint research between our group in Sophia University and a railway operator, Central Japan Railway Company, the author studied the derailment mechanism, vehicle motion both on rails and after derailment, and measures to reduce such risks for high-speed rail vehicles during large earthquakes. We applied a systematic approach combining both theoretical and experimental studies to clarify the mechanism. The theoretical study was based on our original reasonably simplified multi-body dynamics simulations to capture the most significant vehicle/track system response, which was suitable for studying the fundamental mechanism of vehicle motion. Simultaneously, full-scale to 1/10-scale experiments were conducted to directly observe these dynamics in reality. The author believes that the approach presented in this paper could be generalized to other study areas because of the mutual verification and feedback between theory and practical phenomena. The results are discussed with regard to the derailment mechanism and the effects of countermeasures.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20)

go to the previous paper
return to the table of contents
return to IJRT
purchase this issue (price £80 +P&P)