A numerical study of the train-induced unsteady airflow in a subway tunnel with natural ventilation ducts using the dynamic layering method

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate numerically the characteristics of train-induced unsteady airflow in a subway tunnel with natural ventilation ducts. A three-dimensional numerical model using the dynamic layering method for the moving boundary of a train is first developed, and then it is validated against the model tunnel experimental data. With the tunnel and subway train geometries in the numerical model exactly the same as those in the model tunnel experimental test, but with the ventilation ducts being connected to the tunnel ceiling and a barrier placed at the tunnel outlet, the three-dimensional train-induced unsteady tunnel flows are numerically simulated. The computed distributions of the pressure and the air velocity in the tunnel as well as the time series of the mass flow rate at the ventilation ducts reveal the impact of the train motion on the exhaust and suction of the air through ventilation ducts and the effects of a barrier placed at the tunnel outlet on the duct ventilation performance. As the train approaches a ventilation duct, the air is pushed out of the tunnel through the duct. As the train passes the ventilation duct, the exhaust flow in the duct is changed rapidly to the suction flow. After the train passes the duct, the suction mass flow rate at the duct decreases with time since the air pressure at the opening of the duct is gradually recovered with time. A drastic change in the mass flow rate at a ventilation duct while a train passes the corresponding ventilation duct, causes a change in the exhaust mass flow rate at other ventilation ducts. Also, when a barrier is placed at the tunnel outlet, the air volume discharge rate at each ventilation duct is greatly increased, i.e., the barrier placed at the tunnel outlet can improve remarkably the ventilation performance through each duct.