Vehicle Design and Dynamics Laboratory

The laboratory is intended for digital modelling and simulation testing of transport systems and processes, as well as vehicle operation systems. It comprises 15 state-of-the-art computer stations with specialist software, including CAD/CAE systems and MBS (multibody simulation) suites, which assist in designing vehicles and their components. The software includes:

  • SIMPACK simulation tool suite (engineering software for modelling and numerical tests of mechanical and mechatronic multibody systems with elastic and damping elements). Examples of use:

calculations of natural vibration frequency and visualisation of forces at the wheel-rail contact patch
when riding in a curve
  • ANSYS as the world’s leading suite for FEM calculations, enabling strength analyses, as well as fatigue, modal, flow, and thermal analyses. Examples of use:
FEM calculations for tram wheel rubber inserts and stress analysis at the area of wheel/rail contact, work carried out by M. Rachuta for his master’s thesis in 2017
  • SolidWorks software making it possible to design faster, more efficiently, and with greater accuracy. Examples of use:

analysis of vehicle kinematic gauge and visualisation of the tramway bogie frame

Works performed:

  • design and analysis of individual vehicle components/units (running gears, transmissions, motors, etc.), as well as entire vehicle structures,
  • analysis of vehicle dynamics in predetermined traffic conditions with a particular focus on the selection of optimal characteristics of spring-damper type structural components,
  • vehicle suspension system properties tests and numerical analysis of the dynamic properties of the adopted design solution,
  • vehicle movement stability test in predetermined traffic conditions with a particular focus on ride safety and comfort,
  • analyses of vehicle dynamics with the use of the FEM and MBS hybrid model analyses,
  • numerical tests, as well as durability and reliability analyses of the adopted vehicle design solution with a particular focus on sudden load changes and vehicle behaviour in emergency situations, i.e. wheel lift-off from the rail or emergency braking,
  • construction of vehicle active drivetrain control using Hardware in the Loop (HIL) and Software in the Loop (SIL) systems.

Head of the laboratory:

dr hab. inż. Bartosz Firlik, Associate Professor