Abstract：A strategy to control the hunting instability of railway vehicles, which is based on analysis of the effects of vehicle structure characteristics and system parameters on motion stability of high-speed trains, is developed and then validated by parameter sensitivity analysis. Then, the principle for setting the target value of the vehicle critical speed is discussed in terms of nonlinear effects of system parameters, engineering application, and operational features of high-speed trains. The ranges of system parameters in engineering applications are analyzed, including the carbody mass, the stiffness and damping of the secondary suspension, the longitudinal and lateral positioning stiffness of the axle box, and other suspension parameters. By analyzing the sensitivity of train motion stability to parameters and the effects of parameters on vehicle dynamics performances, optimization principles based on sensitivity and principles for performance balance are proposed. Besides, the reliability design of vehicle motion stability is introduced.
