Modeling the pneumatic subsystem of a S-cam air brake system

The air brake system is one of the critical components in ensuring the safe operation of any commercial vehicle. This work is directed towards the development of a fault-free model of the pneumatic subsystem of the air brake system. This model can be used in brake control and diagnostic applications. Current enforcement inspections are done manually and hence are time consuming and subjective. The long-term objective is to develop a model-based, performance-based diagnostic system that will automate enforcement inspections and help in monitoring the condition of the air brake system. Such a diagnostic system can update the driver on the performance of the brake system during travel and with recent advancements in communication technology, this information can be remotely transferred to the brake inspection teams. Since this system is performance-based, it will eliminate the subjective nature of visual inspections. The first step in the development of such a diagnostic system is to obtain a fault-free model of the air brake system. The model of the pneumatic subsystem correlates the pressure transients in the brake chamber with the brake pedal actuation force and the brake valve plunger displacement. An experimental test bench was set up at Texas A&M University and the experimental data is used to corroborate the results obtained from the model.