scholarly journals Structure Clearance Design in Wind Tunnel Tests with Implications for Aerodynamic Drag of High-Speed Trains

Author(s):  
Zhixiang Huang ◽  
Hanjie Huang ◽  
Weiping Zeng ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Renyu Zhu

Abstract The influences of vestibule diaphragm gap, wheel-rail clearance, and strut-plate gap on the aerodynamic drag of a 1/8th-scale high-speed train model were investigated in an 8 m×6 m wind tunnel. The Reynolds number was set to 2.2×106 based on train height. It was found that the variation of the vestibule diaphragm gap changed the aerodynamic drag distribution pattern of each car; the drag coefficient of the head and middle cars might change as high as 45%; however, the change in the drag coefficient of the total train was very small. The effects of the strut-plate gap on the aerodynamic drag of each car and the total train were small. The effect of the wheel-rail clearance on the drag of the head car was not significant. It was suggested that the vestibule diaphragm gap, strut-plate gap and wheel-rail clearance of the 1:8 scale high-speed train model should not be greater than 11, 10, and 9 mm, respectively.

Author(s):  
Yeongbin Lee ◽  
Minho Kwak ◽  
Kyu Hong Kim ◽  
Dong-Ho Lee

In this study, the aerodynamic characteristics of pantograph system according to the pantograph cover configurations for high speed train were investigated by wind tunnel test. Wind tunnel tests were conducted in the velocity range of 20∼70m/s with scaled experimental pantograph models. The experimental models were 1/4 scaled simplified pantograph system which consists of a double upper arm and a single lower arm with a square cylinder shaped panhead. The experimental model of the pantograph cover is also 1/4 scaled and were made as 4 different configurations. It is laid on the ground plate which modeled on the real roof shape of the Korean high speed train. Using a load cell, the aerodynamic force such as a lift and a drag which were acting on pantograph system were measured and the aerodynamic effects according to the various configurations of pantograph covers were investigated. In addition, the total pressure distributions of the wake regions behind the panhead of the pantograph system were measured to investigate the variations of flow pattern. From the experimental test results, we checked that the flow patterns and the aerodynamic characteristics around the pantograph systems are varied as the pantograph cover configurations. In addition, it is also found that pantograph cover induced to decrease the aerodynamic drag and lift forces. Finally, we proposed the aerodynamic improvement of pantograph cover and pantograph system for high speed train.


1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Cooper

Low mass, high speed trains may be in danger of being overturned by strong crosswinds. This paper examines the aerodynamic data required to estimate overturning wind speeds. The results of wind tunnel tests and a moving model experiment, including the effect of the turbulent wind, are described.


Author(s):  
Benhuai Li ◽  
Zhaijun Lu ◽  
Kaibo Yan ◽  
Sisi Lu ◽  
Lingxiang Kong ◽  
...  

Aluminium honeycomb is a light weight, thin-walled material with a typical multi-cellular construction and a good strength-to-weight ratio. Therefore, aluminium honeycomb can be used as an energy-absorbing device for high-speed trains. Due to its large mass and high operating speed, a high-speed train can generate large impact energy. Thus, an energy-absorbing device with a greater energy absorption capability must be designed for high-speed trains. To reduce the aerodynamic drag, the cross-sectional area of a high-speed train is limited. Therefore, a honeycomb energy-absorbing device should be designed in such a way that it is longer than the traditional energy-absorbing devices; however, this may lead to bending, destruction and uncontrollable deformation of the honeycomb; these factors are not conducive for energy absorption. In this paper, a sleeve structure was designed for high-speed trains, and a crash experiment of the energy-absorbing structure showed that the bending and destruction of the honeycomb energy-absorbing device are effectively suppressed compared with the ordinary honeycomb energy-absorbing structure. Moreover, the fluctuation of the crash force was smaller and the crash force is more stable than the traditional thin-walled energy-absorbing structure. Therefore, the deformation instability problem of the ordinary honeycomb energy-absorbing structure and the crash force fluctuation problem of the traditional thin-walled energy-absorbing structure can be solved. Then, a crash experiment and simulation involving a high-speed train with improved honeycomb energy-absorbing device was carried out, and the results showed that the deformation of the end of the train body was stable and controllable, and the train body deceleration satisfied the collision standard EN15227.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenfeng Wu ◽  
Enyu Yang ◽  
Wangcai Ding

Aerodynamic drag plays an important role in high-speed trains, and how to reduce the aerodynamic drag is one of the most important research subjects related to modern railway systems. This paper investigates a design method for large-scale streamlined head cars of high-speed trains by adopting NURBS theory according to the outer surface characteristics of trains. This method first created the main control lines of the driver cab by inputting control point coordinates; then, auxiliary control lines were added to the main ones. Finally, the reticular region formed by the main control lines and auxiliary ones were filled. The head car was assembled with the driver cab and sightseeing car in a virtual environment. The numerical simulation of train flow field was completed through definition of geometric models, boundary conditions, and space discretization. The calculation results show that the aerodynamic drag of the high-speed train with large-scale streamlined head car decreases by approximately 49.3% within the 50-300 km/h speed range compared with that of the quasi-streamlined high-speed train. This study reveals that the high-speed train with large-scale streamlined head car could achieve the purpose of reducing running aerodynamic drag and saving energy, and aims to provide technical support for the subsequent process design and production control of high-speed train head cars.


2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (24) ◽  
pp. 3733-3744 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.A. Tucker

Raptors - falcons, hawks and eagles in this study - such as peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) that attack distant prey from high-speed dives face a paradox. Anatomical and behavioral measurements show that raptors of many species must turn their heads approximately 40 degrees to one side to see the prey straight ahead with maximum visual acuity, yet turning the head would presumably slow their diving speed by increasing aerodynamic drag. This paper investigates the aerodynamic drag part of this paradox by measuring the drag and torque on wingless model bodies of a peregrine falcon and a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) with straight and turned heads in a wind tunnel at a speed of 11.7 m s(−)(1). With a turned head, drag increased more than 50 %, and torque developed that tended to yaw the model towards the direction in which the head pointed. Mathematical models for the drag required to prevent yawing showed that the total drag could plausibly more than double with head-turning. Thus, the presumption about increased drag in the paradox is correct. The relationships between drag, head angle and torque developed here are prerequisites to the explanation of how a raptor could avoid the paradox by holding its head straight and flying along a spiral path that keeps its line of sight for maximum acuity pointed sideways at the prey. Although the spiral path to the prey is longer than the straight path, the raptor's higher speed can theoretically compensate for the difference in distances; and wild peregrines do indeed approach prey by flying along curved paths that resemble spirals. In addition to providing data that explain the paradox, this paper reports the lowest drag coefficients yet measured for raptor bodies (0.11 for the peregrine and 0.12 for the red-tailed hawk) when the body models with straight heads were set to pitch and yaw angles for minimum drag. These values are markedly lower than value of the parasite drag coefficient (C(D,par)) of 0.18 previously used for calculating the gliding performance of a peregrine. The accuracy with which drag coefficients measured on wingless bird bodies in a wind tunnel represent the C(D,par) of a living bird is unknown. Another method for determining C(D,par) selects values that improve the fit between speeds predicted by mathematical models and those observed in living birds. This method yields lower values for C(D,par) (0.05-0.07) than wind tunnel measurements, and the present study suggests a value of 0.1 for raptors as a compromise.


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