Aerodynamic characteristics of intercity train running on bridge under wind and rain environment

Abstract

Severe weather, especially strong rain-loaded wind, appears in coastal areas frequently. The strong wind driving raindrops worsens the wind effect and aggravates its impact on the intercity railway bridge and running trains. Based on the Euler multiphase model, for evaluating the effect of raindrops in wind and rain environment on running trains, a numerical simulation approach was adopted in this study, and the influence of the crosswind speed and rainfall with varying characteristic parameters on the aerodynamic performances of intercity trains was analysed. The results showed that the airflow around the train drove some raindrops to show a parabolic projectile feature, and the projectile distance increased as the crosswind speed increased, but the projectile distance showed no noticeable change with the rise in the rainfall, because the impact of the crosswind played a dominant role, while the raindrops provided additional effects in the wind and rain environment. Furthermore, in the wind and rain environment, as the crosswind speed increased and compared to that of the 10 m/s conditions, an increase of 354.37 %, 369.60 % and 355.07 % in CS, CL and CM of the whole train was shown in 30 m/s wind speed conditions, respectively, while, as the rainfall increased to 100 mm/h compared to that of the 20 mm/h, an increase of 6.41 % and 6.25 % in CS and CM of the whole train, as well as a decrease of 0.71 % in CL of the whole train was shown, respectively.