ABSTRACT
VAMPIRE is a multi-body dynamic modelling program specifically developed for railway vehicle applications by AEA Technology Rail, a world-leading centre of railway dynamics expertise. Unlike most other multi-body dynamic analysis software, VAMPIRE is specifically designed to address the particular problems and requirements of the railway vehicle designer or owner. Track spectrum inputs can be combined with frequency domain analysis to predict the frequency content of vehicle body accelerations. Linear analysis methods are powerful tools for undertaking parameter sensitivity analyses and general ride predictions but if a prediction is required over a specific track section including curves, as is increasingly becoming the case in performance specifications, non-linearities of the vehicle suspension and wheel-rail contact must be taken into account. Railway vehicle dynamic behaviour has a number of special features which differentiate it from other applications of multi-body dynamics. Some of these features cause difficulty for general multi-body dynamics packages.
