Investigation of Reduced Cost Guideway Designs for the Tracked Air Cushion Research Vehicle.

摘要

A study was made of alternate low cost guideway design concepts for the 300mph Tracked Air Cushion Research Vehicle which will be tested at the DOT High Speed Ground Test Center at Pueblo,Colorado. The proposed concepts are both within present state of the art,and are designed to take maximum advantage of the existing technology used in the highway construction industry. The chief requirements are low construction cost and safe operation of vehicles at speeds up to 300miles per hour. The various guideway design constraints imposed by the vehicle are discussed and used to evolve the preferred design concepts. The requirement for acceptable passenger ride comfort is interpreted in terms of guideway surface smoothness considerations by means of a probabilistic analysis of vehicle response. Various construction techniques are investigated and cost estimates are presented for each of the preferred concepts.