Influences on nonlinear Judder Vibrations of Railway Brakes

The paper reports on a joined research project of Knorr-Bremse, Siemens Mobility and the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics. The goal of the project was to analyse the dynamical behaviour of friction brakes for high speed trains. It was intended to gain insight into possible vibration mechanisms and to assess the potential for lay-out and operation improvements for future light weight designs. In particular the frequency range up to 250 Hz has been addressed, since the corresponding excitation is unavoidable at least to some extent and has to be considered when the brake system is designed. The study includes a comprehensive multibody simulation study and its comparison to experimental results at the test rig of Knorr-Bremse in Munich. The simulation model is adapted step by step in order to clearly identify and separate the influences on the dynamical properties of the complete brake system including its mounting. Additionally a minimal model is introduced that demonstrates some characteristics of the brake system. It turned out that the underlying knowledge is essential for the mechanical lay-out, which could be demonstrated by solving a particular vibration problem in an actual high-speed project