Aerodynamic interaction between static vehicles and wind barriers on railway bridges exposed to crosswinds

Wind tunnel experiments are used to investigate the aerodynamic interactions between vehicles and wind barriers on a railway bridge. Wind barriers with four different heights (1.72 m, 2.05 m, 2.5 m and 2.95 m, full-scale) and three different porosities (0%, 30% and 40%) are studied to yield the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle and the wind barriers. The effects of the wind barriers on the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle are analyzed as well as the effects of the vehicle on the aerodynamic coefficients of the wind barriers. Finally, the relationship between the drag forces on the wind barriers and the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle are discussed. The results show that the wind barriers can significantly reduce the drag coefficients of the vehicle, but that porous wind barriers increase the lift forces on the vehicle. The windward vehicle will significantly reduce the drag coefficients of the porous wind barriers, but the windward and leeward vehicle will increase the drag coefficients of the solid wind barrier. The overturning moment coefficient is a linear function of the drag forces on the wind barriers if the full-scale height of the wind barriers h<2.5 m and the overturning moment coefficients CO>0.