Detection of the Center of Gravity on Moving Trains

• Published in: TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS Series C Vol. 77; no. 778; pp. 2376 - 2388
• Main Authors: KAWASHIMA, Susumu, WATANABE, Yutaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers 2011
• Subjects: Center of Gravity; D3DCG; Natural Frequency; Railway; Rollover; Vibration of Moving Body
• ISSN: 0387-5024; 1884-8354
• DOI: 10.1299/kikaic.77.2376

The center of gravity of a moving train differs time to time due to variety of number of passengers on board. There can be significant difference of 3D-locations of the center of gravity on the same train between at rush hour time and at off peak one. It is essential to detect the location for preventing rollover accidents of trains on which the critical speed of rollover for them depends. In this respect, this paper applies the innovative new theory of detecting 3D-locations of the center of gravity of a moving object for trains, which was invented by the second author of this paper and abbreviated as D3DCG(1). D3DCG was created by the concept of motion dynamics of a ship floating on water. This paper assumes that similar condition can occur while a train is moving straight at constant speed. Based on this assumption, the authors measured the vertical acceleration and the roll rate of moving trains, which were to be applied to D3DCG for trains, and were successfully able to detect 3D-locations of the center of gravity on trains by D3DCG.