Evaluation of the ride smoothness of railway rolling stock with a pneumatic suspension system

The object of the study is multiple-unit rolling stock with a pneumatic suspension system. To evaluate the dynamic safety indicators of train operation, namely ride smoothness, full-scale experimental dynamic tests of the multiple-unit rolling stock were conducted under actual operating conditions. The tests involved attaching analog acceleration sensors to the upper mounting plate of the pneumatic spring. Using modern ADXL-335 analog accelerometers combined with an ESP-32 microcontroller, acceleration records of the car body in vertical and horizontal directions were obtained. It was established that the root mean square acceleration in the vertical direction is 0.278-0.312 m/s 2 , in the horizontal direction – 0.206-0.251 m/s 2 , while the ride smoothness index W lies within the following ranges: for the vertical direction – 2.96-3.06; for the horizontal – 2.91-3.09. The obtained results can further be used to verify the adequacy of the outcomes derived from theoretical mathematical models.