• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.143-168
• /
• 2015

A numerical model for analyzing air-train-track interaction is proposed to investigate the dynamic behavior of a high-speed train running on a track in crosswinds. The model is composed of a train-track interaction model and a train-air interaction model. The train-track interaction model is built on the basis of the vehicle-track coupled dynamics theory. The train-air interaction model is developed based on the train aerodynamics, in which the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method is employed to deal with the dynamic boundary between the train and the air. Based on the air-train-track model, characteristics of flow structure around a high-speed train are described and the dynamic behavior of the high-speed train running on track in crosswinds is investigated. Results show that the dynamic indices of the head car are larger than those of other cars in crosswinds. From the viewpoint of dynamic safety evaluation, the running safety of the train in crosswinds is basically controlled by the head car. Compared with the generally used assessment indices of running safety such as the derailment coefficient and the wheel-load reduction ratio, the overturning coefficient will overestimate the running safety of a train on a track under crosswind condition. It is suggested to use the wheel-load reduction ratio and the lateral wheel-rail force as the dominant safety assessment indices when high-speed trains run in crosswinds.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.279-297
• /
• 2019

Strong winds threaten the safety of vehicles on long-span bridges considerably, which could force traffic authorities to reduce speed limits or even close these bridges to traffic. In order to maintain the safe and economic operation of a bridge, a reasonable evaluation of the driving safety on that bridge is needed. This paper aims at carrying outdriving safety analyses for three types of vehicles on a long-span bridge in crosswinds by considering the aerodynamic interference between the bridge and the vehicles based on the wind-vehicle-bridge coupling vibration analysis. Firstly, CFD numerical simulations along with previously obtained wind tunnel testing results were used to determine the aerodynamic force coefficients of the three types of vehicles on the bridge. Secondly, the dynamic responses of the bridge and the vehicles under crosswinds were simulated, and based on those, the driving safety analyses for the three types of vehicles on the bridge were carried out for both cases considering and not considering the aerodynamic interference between the vehicles and the bridge. Finally, the effect of the aerodynamic interference on the safety of the vehicles was investigated. The results show that the aerodynamic interference between the bridge and the vehicles not only affectsthe accident critical wind speed but also the accident type for all three types of vehicles. Such effects are also different for each of the three types of vehicles being studied.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.361-373
• /
• 2023

Suspended monorail trains (SMTs) are sensitive to crosswinds, and instantaneous aerodynamic characteristics of two SMTs passing each other under crosswinds are particularly complicated. In this study, a pressure measurement test is carried out on stationary train-bridge models arranged in several critical positions. In addition, a validated moving CFD model is developed with the dynamic and sliding mesh method to explore the realistic train movement effects. The time-varying aerodynamic forces and surface pressure distribution on, as well as the flow field around running trains and bridges during trains passing each other, are computed in detail to illustrate the shielding effect of the upstream train. The results reveal that when two trains begin to pass each other, the side force coefficient of the downstream train reduces significantly to negative values due to the wind shielding effect of the upstream train. The moving model successfully captures that airflow is separated on the middle line of the head car for the suspended monorail train, and the surrounding bluff double-beams can significantly affect the flow structures around the train. The wind shielding effect of the upstream train on the downstream train will weaken as the relative yaw angle decreases.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.309-322
• /
• 2022

Due to the complex terrain around high-speed railways, the windbreaks were established along different landforms, resulting in irregular windbreak transition regions between different subgrade infrastructures (flat ground, cutting, embankment, etc). In this paper, the effect of a windbreak transition on the wind flow around railways subjected to crosswinds was studied. Wind tunnel testing was conducted to study the wind speed change around a windbreak transition on flat ground with a uniform wind speed inflow, and the collected data were used to validate a numerical simulation based on a detached eddy simulation method. The validated numerical method was then used to investigate the effect of the windbreak transition from the flat ground to cutting (the "cutting" is a railway subgrade type formed by digging down from the original ground) for three different wind incidence angles of 90°, 75°, and 105°. The deterioration mechanism of the flow fields and the reasons behind the occurrence of the peak wind velocities were explained in detail. The results showed that for the windbreak transition on flat ground, the impact was small. For the transition from the flat ground to the cutting, the influence was relatively large. The significant increase in the wind speeds was due to the right-angle structure of the windbreak transition, which resulted in sudden changes of the wind velocity as well as the direction. In addition, the height mismatch in the transition region worsened the protective effect of a typical windbreak.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.191-211
• /
• 2015

Several frameworks for the dynamic analysis of wind-vehicle-bridge systems were presented in the past decade to study the safety or ride comfort of road vehicles as they pass through bridges under crosswinds. The wind loads on the vehicles were generally formed based on the aerodynamic parameters of the stationary vehicles on the ground, and the wind loads for the pure bridge decks without the effects of road vehicles. And very few studies were carried out to explore the dynamic effects of the aerodynamic interference between road vehicles and bridge decks, particularly for the moving road vehicles. In this study, the aerodynamic parameters for both the moving road vehicle and the deck considering the mutually-affected aerodynamic effects are formulized firstly. And the corresponding wind loads on the road vehicle-bridge system are obtained. Then a refined analytical framework of the WVB system incorporating the resultant wind loads, a driver model, and the road roughness in plane to fully consider the lateral motion of the road vehicle under crosswinds is proposed. It is shown that obvious lateral and yaw motions of the road vehicle occur. For the selected single road vehicle passing a long span bridge, slight effects are caused by the aerodynamic interference between the moving vehicle and deck on the dynamic responses of the system.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.237-247
• /
• 2015

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 $h{\leq}2.5m$ and the overturning moment coefficients $C_O{\geq}0$.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.145-167
• /
• 2014

Wind-vehicle-bridge (WVB) interaction can be regarded as a coupled vibration system. Aerodynamic forces and moment on vehicles and bridge decks play an important role in the vibration analysis of the coupled WVB system. High-speed vehicle motion has certain effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle-bridge system under crosswinds, but it is not taken into account in most previous studies. In this study, a new testing system with a moving vehicle model was developed to directly measure the aerodynamic forces and moment on the vehicle and bridge deck when the vehicle model moved on the bridge deck under crosswinds in a large wind tunnel. The testing system, with a total length of 18.0 m, consisted of three main parts: vehicle-bridge model system, motion system and signal measuring system. The wind speed, vehicle speed, test objects and relative position of the vehicle to the bridge deck could be easily altered for different test cases. The aerodynamic forces and moment on the moving vehicle and bridge deck were measured utilizing the new testing system. The effects of the vehicle speed, wind yaw angle, rail track position and vehicle type on the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle and bridge deck were investigated. In addition, a data processing method was proposed according to the characteristics of the dynamic testing signals to determine the variations of aerodynamic forces and moment on the moving vehicle and bridge deck. Three-car and single-car models were employed as the moving rail vehicle model and road vehicle model, respectively. The results indicate that the drag and lift coefficients of the vehicle tend to increase with the increase of the vehicle speed and the decrease of the resultant wind yaw angle and that the vehicle speed has more significant effect on the aerodynamic coefficients of the single-car model than on those of the three-car model. This study also reveals that the aerodynamic coefficients of the vehicle and bridge deck are strongly influenced by the rail track positions, while the aerodynamic coefficients of the bridge deck are insensitive to the vehicle speed or resultant wind yaw angle.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.255-267
• /
• 2018

This paper investigated the wind-snow flow around the bogie region of a high-speed train under crosswinds using a coupled numerical method of the unsteady Realizable $k-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model and discrete phase model (DPM). The flow features around the bogie region were discussed and the influence of bogie fairing height on the snow accumulation on the bogie was also analyzed. Here the high-speed train was running at a speed of 200 km/h in a natural environment with the crosswind speed of 15 m/s. The mesh resolution and methodology for CFD analysis were validated against wind tunnel experiments. The results show that large negative pressure occurs locally on the bottom of wheels, electric motors, gear covers, while the positive pressure occurs locally on those windward surfaces. The airflow travels through the complex bogie and flows towards the rear bogie plate, causing a backflow in the upper space of the bogie region. The snow particles mainly accumulate on the wheels, electric motors, windward sides of gear covers, side fairings and back plate of the bogie. Longer side fairings increase the snow accumulation on the bogie, especially on the back plate, side fairings and brake clamps. However, the fairing height shows little impact on snow accumulation on the upper region of the bogie. Compared to short side fairings, a full length side fairing model contributes to more than two times of snow accumulation on the brake clamps, and more than 20% on the whole bogie.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.20-27
• /
• 2011

High-speed railway system is exposed to severe aerodynamic problems and has various requirements both on design and operation; 80% of running resistance is composed of aerodynamic drag, the cross-sectional area and portal shape of tunnel should be designed under aerodynamic consideration, and natural wind velocity should always be monitored to prevent the overturning of train by crosswinds. In addition, most of the aerodynamic problems are proportional to the running speed or square of the running speed. Thus, when the running speed of a high-speed railway system either on operation or under construction is to be increased, the aerodynamic problems should be assessed in advance and the countermeasures should be prepared to alleviate the aerodynamic problems to meet certain requirements. In this study, aerodynamic problems that could occur at speed up of high-speed line have been investigated and aerodynamic requirements to meet the increased operational speed have been studied referring the international and domestic rules, guidance, and recommendations.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.55-70
• /
• 2011

This study investigates the design criteria required for wind barriers to protect vehicles running on an expressway under a high side wind. At the first stage of this study, the lateral deviations of vehicles in crosswinds were computed from the commercial software, CarSim and TruckSim, and the critical wind speeds for a car accident were then evaluated from a predefined car accident index. The critical wind speeds for driving stability were found to be 35 m/s for a small passenger car, yet 30 m/s for a truck and a bus. From the wind tunnel tests, the minimum height of a wind barrier required to reduce the wind speed by 50% was found to be 12.5% of the road width. In the case of parallel bridges, the placement of two edge wind barriers plus one wind barrier at center was recommended for a separation distance larger than 20 m (four lanes) and 10 m (six lanes) respectively, otherwise two wind barriers were recommended.