Numerical study on the slipstream and trackside pressure induced by trains with different longitudinal section lines

Slipstreams are generated when high-speed trains pass through the open air causing safety threat to passengers, trackside workers and infrastructure. This study calculates the slipstream induced by trains with different longitudinal section lines using a detached-eddy simulation. The slipstream velocities and pressure at various lateral distances from the centre of the rail position and various vertical distances from the top of the rail position are calculated at a Reynolds number of 1.8 × 10⁶, and the flow field around the trains is analysed. The results of the calculation are compared with the results of a full-scale test to validate the numerical method adopted in this work. The results demonstrate that the variations in the slipstream velocities induced by the four types of trains are similar as are the variations in the trackside pressures. The amplitudes of the slipstream velocities and trackside pressures are different due to the influence of the longitudinal section line, and both the slipstream velocity and the trackside pressure increase with the slope of the longitudinal section line. The slipstream velocity and trackside pressure decrease with increasing distance from the centre of the rail and the top of the rail. The large difference in the slipstream induced by the four types of trains occurs in regions where the distance from the centre of the rail is greater than 2.5 m and the distance from the top of the rail is greater than 1.5 m, and those regions are also the areas where platform passengers and track infrastructure are located. The results demonstrate that the slipstream in those regions can be reduced by adopting relatively lower slopes of the longitudinal section line.