Development of a MB model for designing a control strategy of a full scale roller rig

In railway applications, testing components on-board vehicle is necessary to opti-mize performance and efficiency. In order to reduce costs and time, to increase repeatability of results and allow a proper safety level, the use of dedicated test rigs is increasing. In the present paper the design of the control strategy of a full scale roller rig for locomotives able to verify vehicle traction/braking systems and to test anti-slip/anti-skid control systems is investigated. On purpose, a multi-body (MB) of the vehicle and of the roller rig (including anti-skid/anti-slip con-trollers) was developed and coupled with the test rig control logic. Simulation results are pre-sented and discussed. Finally preliminary experimental results obtained at the roller-rig located at the Osmannoro Centre of Experimental Dynamics (Italy) are presented.