Aeroheating and aerodynamic performance of a transonic hyperloop pod with radial gap and axial channel: A contrastive study

Abstract

The aerodynamic characteristics of a hyperloop vehicle with or without channels operating at subsonic speeds in a low-pressure tube were simulated using a scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) method based on the shear-stress transport (SST) κ-ω turbulence model. The aerodynamic behavior of the hyperloop pod, fluid flow, and heat transfer phenomena in the tube were analyzed and evaluated. The grid resolution was analyzed, and the numerical algorithm was validated using a wind tunnel test. The results show that the effects of using channels on the pressure drag of the pod are mainly noticeable at the end of the deceleration stage, and using channels has a great influence on the friction drag relative to the pressure drag, especially during deceleration. The friction drag of such a pod increased with the inclusion of an axial channel in both the acceleration and deceleration stages, whereas it was decreased using a radial gap inside the pod in conjunction with an axial channel during deceleration. The flow field around the pod tail is greatly affected when channels are used relative to other areas around the pod. Using both radial gap and axial channel can effectively reduce the abnormally high temperature in the wake of the pod when the pod surpasses the critical speed. The effects of the radial gap on the flow field in the radial gap are different during different stages of operation, especially in terms of the pressure field. The inclusion of a radial gap is not conducive to improving the surrounding flow field, especially during deceleration. It was also found that the aerodynamic profile design of the channel exit is very important, and the pod speed must be considered.