Comparison study of the effect of bridge-tunnel transition on train aerodynamic performance with or without crosswind

Lei Zhou, Tanghong Liu, Zhengwei Chen, Wenhui Li, Zijian Guo, Xuhui He and Youwu Wang

Abstract

This paper studied the case of high-speed train running from flat ground to bridges and into/out of tunnels, with or without crosswind based on the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. First, the flow structure was analyzed to explain the influence mechanisms of different infrastructures on the aerodynamic characteristics of the train. Then, the evolution of aerodynamic forces of the train during the entire process was analyzed and compared. Additionally, the pressure variation on the train body and the tunnel wall was examined in detail. The results showed that the pressure coefficient and the flow structure on both sides of the high-speed train were symmetrical for no crosswind case. By contrast, under crosswind, there was a tremendous and immediate change in the pressure mapping and flow structure when the train passing through the bridge-tunnel section. The influence of the ground-bridge transition on the aerodynamic forces was much smaller than that of the bridge-tunnel section. Moreover, the variation of aerodynamic load during the process of entering and exiting the bridge-tunnel sections was both significant. In addition, in the case without crosswind, the change in the pressure change in the tunnel conformed to the law of pressure wave propagation, while under crosswind, the variation in pressure was comprehensively affected by both the train and crosswind in the tunnel.

Key Words

high-speed train; bridge-tunnel transition; no wind and crosswind; aerodynamic load; flow structures

Address

Lei Zhou:Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Tanghong Liu:Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering,Central South University, Changsha 410075, China Zhengwei Chen:Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering,Central South University, Changsha 410075, China/Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Wenhui Li:Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering,Central South University, Changsha 410075, China Zijian Guo:Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering,Central South University, Changsha 410075, China Xuhui He: School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China Youwu Wang:Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

← Back to Volume 32, No. 6