ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the detail of the key suspension components that make up the running gear of typical railway vehicles. It examines the unique railway problem of gauging, where the movement of a railway vehicle means that it sweeps through a space that is larger than it would occupy if it moved in a perfectly straight or curved path. The book explains the use of wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics to improve the understanding of the effects of aerodynamics on the dynamic behaviour of railway vehicles. It summarises the possible ways in which active suspensions can allow vehicle designers to provide advantages that are not possible with passive suspensions. The book outlines the key aspects of field testing, including the procedures typically used during the acceptance process to demonstrate safe operation of railway vehicles.
