Dynamic Response Characteristics of the Urban Gravity-Vacuum Transit System

Abstract

The accelerations and displacements felt by a passenger aboard a high-speed train will, in part, be determined by the response of the train and guideway to irregularities in the guideway. For the Gravity-Vacuum-Transit (GVT) System, computer programs have been written for the dynamic response of the system to sinusoidal track disturbances. Some results have also been obtained for the response of the train to any shape irregularity in track surface. The analytical models range from a simple unsprung mass moving along a rigid track to a complete train of N-cars with suspension springs and dampers moving along a flexible track-tube structure which is itself suspended by springs and dampers from a rigid tunnel wall. Numerical results have been obtained which identify and evaluate some of the major constraints of the system. It is felt that the analytical techniques as well as some of the results have general application to the ride comfort evaluation of high-speed transportation systems.