Jacek GRAJNERT*

Zbigniew CHABRAŚ*
Piotr WOLKO*

Airspring Modeled in
MATLAB/Simulink as
a Force Element in ADAMS

* Wrocław University of Technology

Examples of Pneumatic Suspended Vehicles
Elementary Pneumatic Suspension
Energy Flow in Elementary Airspring

QZ

Q1
QS1

QW

QS2
Q2
 Railway Car on a Curve
and Airsprings Deformations
 Matrix of Variation Coefficients of
Effective Surfaces of 3-D Airspring

P = S ⋅ ( p − pa )

S = SO + C ⋅ X
zG
ψG

ηG

xG G

yG
ϕG
l

zD

ψD

ηD

xD D

yD
ϕD
Laboratory Tests
 Airspring FEM Model in ABAQUS*

* calculated by Wroclaw Centre of Networking and Supercomputing

 Example of Load Cases

• inflation (0.0÷0.5 MPa), • rotational deflection (-5°÷5°)

• axial deflection (35÷105mm), • lateral deflection (-120÷120mm)
 Airspring Characteristics Calculated by FEM
45

F xD [kN]
35

25

15

-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

-5
x [mm]

-15

-25
FxD
-35

-45

Reaction Force FxD at lower mounting point

20 1.4

M [kNm]
[kNm]

1.2

D
G
M

15
1.0

0.8
10
0.6

0.4
5

0.2

0 0.0
-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
x [mm] -0.2 x [mm]
-5
-0.4

-10
MϕG -0.6

-0.8
MϕD
-1.0
-15

-1.2

-20 -1.4

Reaction Moment MϕG at Reaction Moment MϕD at

upper mounting point lower mounting point
 Reaction Force FxD at Lower Mounting Point
45

Fx [kN]
D
35

25

15

-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

-5
x [mm]

-15

-25 FxD

-35

-45
 Reaction Moment MϕG at Upper Mounting Point

20

M [kNm]
G
15

10

0
-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
x [mm]

-5
MϕG

-10

-15

-20
Reaction Moment MϕD at Lower Mounting Point
1.4

M [kNm]
1.2

D
1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-0.2 x [mm]

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
MϕD
-1.0

-1.2

-1.4
 x-Coefficients
250

kx [kN/m]
f
200

D
F
k =
f x 150

x
x 100

50

0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
p 1 -p a [MPa]

1.4
c x f [m]
1.2

f 1.0
k
c =
x
f x 0.8

p1 − pa 0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
p 1 -p a [MPa]
 φ-Coefficients
20

k0 [kNm/m]
15

f
10
D
M ϕ 5

k =
0
f
0

x -5

-10

-15
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
p 1 -p a [MPa]

0.02
c 0 [m ]
2
f

0.00

f
k
c =
f 0 -0.02

0
p1 − pa -0.04

-0.06

-0.08
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
p 1 -p a [MPa]
 Library of Components of
Pneumatic Suspension System
Airsprings - Linear and Nonlinear
Example - Model of the Railway Car
MATLAB/Simulink Part of the Railway Car Model
Structure of the „adams_sub” Block
Simplified Railway Car Model
Y

M, I ZZ X

a a
Vertical displacement „yR” for M_0.01 s (A),
A-M_0.01 s (B) and A-M_ 0.001 s (C)

0.03

0.025

0.02

B
0.015
C
0.01

0.005

0
A
-0.005

-0.01

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Pressure in Elastic Chambers

5
x 10

6.6

6.4
L

6.2
R

5.8

5.6
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Air Mass Flow from Feeding System

0.03

0.02
L
0.01

-0.01
R

-0.02

-0.03
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
 Conclusions

• Simpler building of vehicle models with advanced

pneumatic suspension system
• Easy choice of the suspension system parameters
• Usability of linearized models
• Evaluation possibility of pressures, air mass flow and
temperatures in each point of the suspension system
• Opennes for new models
 Future Plans
• More detailed tests on airsprings to obtain full 3-D
characteristics
• Collecting and eventual completion of the equalising
and leveling valves charcteristics
• Broadening the pneumatics library with other
components e.g. position sensors
 Bibliography
[1] Grajnert J. : Podstawy teoretyczno-doświadczalne projektowania zawieszeń pneumatycznych.
Oficyna Wydawnicza PWr, Wrocław 1996.
[2] Grajnert J. : Improvement in Airspring Modelling. 4th ADAMS/Rail Users’ Conference. Utrecht
1999.
[3] Grajnert J., Krettek O.: Zur Phänomenologie und Ersatzmodellbildung von Luftfedern. ZEV+DET
Glas. Ann. 115 (1991), Nr. 7/8.
[4] Grajnert J., Wolko P.: Library of Components of Pneumatic Suspension System modeled in
MATLAB/SIMULINK and Possibilities of its Application in ADAMS/Rail. 5th ADAMS/Rail Users’
Conference. Haarlem 2000.
[5] Marcinkowski J.: Podstawy określania charakterystyk sprężyn powietrznych. Prace Naukowe IKEM
PWr, Nr 68, Seria: Monografie Nr 19, Wrocław 1992
[6] Oda N., Nishioka K., Nishimura S.: Theoretical analysis of the diaphragm air springs for railroad
vehicles. 40th General Meeting of Japan Soc. Mech. Eng., 1963

Summary
This paper is a continuation of a previous one "Library of Components of Pneumatic Suspension
System Modelled in MATLAB/SIMULINK and Possibilities of its Application in ADAMS/Rail". It
shows how to build a model of pneumatic suspension system using specialised library in
MATLAB/Simulink and include such a model into structure of a vehicle model using Plant Export
function in ADAMS/Controls. ADAMS and MATLAB work in a loop and exchange such parameters as
velocities, displacements, forces and moments in each airspring. Such approach allows building complex
models of pneumatic suspension sytem where connections between airsprings, feeding system and control
system are taken into account. It is especially useful by studying untypical cases of suspension system and
when you need to follow specified parameters not available in present version of airspring model.