Numerical Analysis of High-Speed Train Induced Aerodynamic Load on Noise Barrier Considering Wind Effect

Abstract

Along the high-speed railway lines, the noise barriers need to be installed to protect nearby inhabitants from noise pollution caused by the running trains. When a high-speed train passes through the noise barriers, due to the blocking effect of noise barrier on air movement, transient train-induced aerodynamic pressure will increase significantly. Field measurement and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation are main ways to study the train-induced aerodynamic pressure on the noise barriers. Due to the complexity of the environmental conditions in field test, however, it is difficult to take into account the wind effects on measurement results. Based on CFD simulation, in this paper, the aerodynamic effects on noise barrier from high-speed trains was simulated by applying the wind flow in the opposite direction to the train running. Influences of train speed and distance from noise barrier to track centre on such aerodynamic pressure were analysed. In addition, by applying the wind flow perpendicular to the longitudinal of train body, the effect of cross wind on the train-induced aerodynamic pressure was evaluated. Results show that pressure magnitude on the noise barriers increases non-linearly with the train speed. There is good nonlinear relationship between the pressure and the square of the distance to track centre. Cross wind increases the magnitude of positive pressure and makes the duration of high-pressure zone longer and absolute value of negative pressure peak decreases. There is a coupling effect of cross wind effect and train-induced aerodynamic effect on noise barriers.