Safety analysis of high temperature superconducting maglev train considering the aerodynamic loads under crosswinds

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the safety of high temperature superconducting (HTS) high-speed maglev trains operating in an open environment subjected to strong crosswinds. Therefore, a full-size numerical model of the HTS high-speed maglev engineering prototype is developed based on the 3-D, steady RANS method and SST k-ω turbulence model. Then, the aerodynamic loads are added to the simplified aerodynamic loading center of the train, and a dynamic vehicle model on basis of the special nonlinear magnetic-track relationship is established to study the variation of safety indexes of the HTS maglev train under different crosswinds and operation speeds. It is found that the safety indexes of the maglev train meet the requirements under different crosswind scenarios, indicating that the HTS maglev engineering prototype has great stability against crosswinds. It is expected to adapt to high-speed operation and withstand at least 20.7 m/s crosswind speed under 600 km/h operation speed, to provide a reference for future engineering applications of the HTS maglev train.