Prediction and Evaluation of Characteristics of Air Spring for Railroad Vehicle

철도차량용 공기스프링의 특성 예측 및 평가

An air spring which is a part of the railroad vehicle suspension system is used to reduce and absorb the vibration and the noise. Main components of the air spying are a cord reinforced rubber bellows, a upper plate, a lower plate and a stopper rubber spring. The characteristics of the air spring which are the load capacity, the vertical and the horizontal stiffness are depended on the configuration of rubber bellows, the angle of cord and the mechanical properties of cord. The computer simulation using commercial finite element analysis codes are executed to predict and evaluate the load capacity and the stiffness. The appropriate shape and cord angle of the air suing are selected to adjust the required performance of the air spring. Several samples of the air spring are manufectured and experimented. It is shown that the results by computer simulation are in close agreement with the test results.