Influence of the yaw damper modelling on multibody simulations of rail vehicles

Yaw dampers are mainly characterized by dissipative behaviour. Although they are generally idealized as linear elements, they are characterized by asymmetries and nonlinearities. They also present elastic force contributions which depend on the excitation frequency. Therefore, rheological models are widely implemented in multibody co-simulation to assess the influence of on the dynamic performance of rail vehicles. Indeed, choosing specific damper models affects the results of the numerical simulations. This work aims at studying the influence of different yaw damper models on assessment of vehicle dynamic performances through multibody simulations. Two models are proposed and calibrated on a yaw damper with spool valves. A generic multibody model of a rail vehicle is introduced to study the vehicle dynamics at different operating conditions. Then, the most representative dynamic indexes related to stability, ride comfort, and curving are compared to assess their sensitivity on the damper modelling approach.