• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.175-185
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• 2015

Generally, in the train area, switch tracks have required high reliability because this system is directly associated with derailment. Especially, switch tracks of Maglev vehicles must be moved in terms of the whole geometric characteristics, in which the bogies are encased in the switch track. For this reason, switch track was constructed with steel lighter than concrete girders. But, the steel switch track was weak because of structural vibration as well as structural deformation. Therefore, it is important to predict the levitation stability when a vehicle passes over flexible switch track. The aims of this paper are to develop a coupled dynamic model to describe the relationship between a Maglev vehicle and switch track and to predict the levitation stability. In order to develop the coupled dynamic model, a three dimensional vehicle model was developed based on multibody dynamics; a switch model was made using the modal superposition method. And, the developed model was verified using comparison measured data.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2016

It is essential to lighten the weight of switch girders in order to reduce their costs of manufacturing and make it easier to use them in construction. Lightening the weight of switch is also important to the Maglev 3-way switches system, however, the design variables should be considered very carefully if lightening is to be applied to the system, because these variables are vitally related to the levitation stability. Because Urban Maglev trains have a structure in which train bogie wraps around the guiderail, the adjustment of a girder's height is a possible way to reduce the weight. The safety of the application of this concept is ensured by repeated experiments in a test bed, however, due to a lack of space and budget limits, the design parametric study for the system model can substitute for actual application. The purpose of this paper is to study the design parameters that are concerned with levitation stability while a Maglev train is running on the Maglev 3-way system depending on the weight of the switch girders. In this study, switch girder weight is reduced by adjustment of girder height and girders are and modeled as a flexible body. The effect of the adjustment of girder height on the levitation stability can be analyzed by comparing the velocity of the train when it passes the switch girders, with the lateral gap, and the levitation gap which are obtained from the co-simulation of the Maglev train's dynamics model and flexible switching system. The results of this research will be used to design a Maglev switch.