Influence of bogie fairing configurations on the snow accretion around bogie regions of a high-speed train under crosswind conditions

Abstract

In this paper, the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations (URANS) was coupled with the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) to study snow accretion on the bogies of a high-speed train under crosswind conditions. The influence of bogie fairing configurations on the snow particles’ movement, accumulation and flow characteristics around bogie regions are assessed. The results show that the larger bogie fairings have a positive effect on snow reduction around the main components of bogies under crosswind conditions. Compared to currently used bogie fairings, the total snow accretion of a head car increases by 41.5% by removing the fairings, while it decreases by 24.9% with the installation of full bogie fairings. The larger bogie fairings can lower the velocity of underbody flow and prevent high-speed airflows from entering the bogie regions from the windward side of bogie cavities. Moreover, the larger bogie fairings reduce the snow concentration around the heat-producing components of the bogies and attenuate the amount of snow particles near the rear plates of the cavities. Thus, the larger fairings can provide better anti-snow performance of train bogies under crosswind conditions.