Bagus Wahyudi, Pipit Wahyu Nugroho, Akhmad Faizin, Hangga Wicaksono, Safian Sharif, Mohd Azlan Suhaimi, Nur Safwati Mohd Nor
The purpose of this study is mainly to discuss mathematical modelling and simulation of a funicular train with water mass controlled. The funicular train carriage is equipped with a water reservoir, when the train goes up the water reservoir is empty and when the train goes down the reservoir is full. During the train’s journey down the train carriage spills water continuously and in steady flow so that when it reaches the lower station the water reservoir will be empty. This study compares the performance of the car suspension system of the funicular train carriage when moving up and when moving down. The performance is then compared between traditional car model with water mass controlled provides better features in terms of ride quality and control. Mathematical modelling is developed and differential equations of motion are derived from a quarter car model. The equation is derived from knowing the response of the spring-mass movement due to the unsteady flow of water discharge on the descending vehicle carrying the mass of water in the tank as its driver. The mass of water the train carries is in full condition when it is going down and will run out on time when the train reaches the lower station. Water mass controlled provides ride quality and load distribution as same as traditional car model in sinusoidal loading mode simulations. The differential equations are solved with the help of computer simulation using MATLAB Simulink. The results include the displacement and acceleration of damped and undamped masses after hitting the rail joint bumps as well as the results of the system stability analysis. By simulated using a bump profile has almost the same value in a rise time of around 0.2–0.3 seconds, a maximum amplitude of around 0.2 m, a peak amplitude of around 0.22 m and a steady state of around 5.2 seconds. © 2025 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license
Mechanical Engineering Department, State Polytechnic of Malang, Kota Malang, 65141, Indonesia; Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia