Design of LQR controller for active suspension system of Partially Filled Tank Cars

Increasing usage of tank cars and their intrinsic instability due to sloshing of contents have caused growing maintenance costs as well as more frequent hazards and defects like derailment and fatigue of bogies and axels. Therefore, varieties of passive solutions have been represented to improve dynamical parameters. In this task, assuming 22 degrees of freedom, dynamic analysis of partially filled tank car traveling on a curved track is investigated. In order to consider stochastic geometry of track; irregularities have been derived randomly by Mont Carlo method. More over the fluid tank model with 1 degree of freedom is also presented by equivalent mechanical approach in terms of pendulum. An active suspension system for described car is designed by using linear quadratic optimal control theory to decrease destructive effects of fluid sloshing. Eventually, the performance of the active suspension system has been compared with that of the passive one and a study is carried out on how active suspension may affect the dynamical parameters such as displacements and Nadal\'s derailment index.