Numerical study of aerodynamics drag and flow characteristics of the high-speed train head design

Abstract

A native design of the Indonesian high-speed train has been developed as an improvement of the previous medium-speed train model. As the design speed is proposed to be increased from 160 km/h to 250 km/h, the nose shape and nose length of the train head were modified into a sharper and longer nose. In this study, numerical simulation of computational fluid dynamics was used to investigate the aerodynamic phenomena and flow behavior around the modified train head and carbodies. The CFD simulation was used as the verification of the shape design and a tool for rapid design changes and optimization. The model configuration is three cars on a real scale by ignoring other parts like the train window and door, pantograph, and train connecting. A k-ε turbulence model was used in the simulation. From this investigation, it is found that the coefficient of drag on the model is calculated to be 0.34. Meanwhile, an experimental wind tunnel test validates the result with a coefficient drag is 0.38 or 10% divergence from the numerical method.