The Effect of the Aerodynamic Pressure Wave on Construction Projects Caused by High-Speed train

A problem associated with the aerodynamic design of high-speed trains is the air flow and slipstream effects caused by their passage. These effects can have some level of impact on fuel and energy efficiency of the train, but their other important consequence is the emergence of turbulent flows at higher speeds which can cause aerodynamic drag forces followed by noise and vibration. Thus, slipstream effects have significant importance in the design of trackside installations which necessitate unique safety measures. A high-speed train passing under a structure or object makes sudden impacts on aerodynamic forces acting on that object. So this issue needs to be considered in the design of structures and installations to be built around high-speed rails. In this study, a numerical simulation with moving mesh and k-epsilon turbulence model was carried out in FLUENT software to study the slipstream and aerodynamic effect of a passing high-speed train on overhead and trackside installations with the objective of preventing aerodynamics-induced damage. This simulation was conducted in two scenarios of absence and presence of aerodynamic brake on topside of the train. In the end, ABAQUS finite element software was used to determine the maximum stress exerted on objects (installations) positioned at different distances from the rail, and the results were compared with the maximum allowable stresses to determine a minimum permissible distance between installations and high-speed train.