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

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.