Hydraulic cylinders are used to drive the car tilting mechanism equipped on the 300X next-generation body of the Shinkansen, which is currently being tested by the JR Tokai, Co., Ltd.
The 300X has been designed to achieve a maximum speed of 450 km/hr. It incluedes, as test elements, various stat-of-the-art technologies. The tilt of car must be maintained to reduce the centrifugal force which is generated when the tarin runs on a curve.(Fig. 1) The latest tilting mechanism is different from the conventional pendulum mechanism in which the natural swaying otion of the pendulum is used.
Instead, the new hydraulic cylinders activly control the tilting ofthe body of the train.