Simulation of Crosswind Effects on Rail Vehicles

This project has been done to investigate the effects of the aerodynamic forces produce by the crosswind on the static trains. It has been carried out by comparing the available wind tunnel test result taken from a journal with the simulation produced using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software, FLUENT and GAMBIT. This has been done to validate the simulation. The simulations have been performed on train and viaduct scale models. Two types of flow are considered which are low turbulence and high turbulence. The simulations were done for four different angles of attack for each flow. The analysis has been done by comparing the flow around the rail vehicle at different views and angles of attack. Calculation and the plotted values for force coefficient with respect to x, y and z direction were shown at the end of chapter 4. It shows that at approximately same angle which is at α=45°–50°, the aerodynamic forces acting on the train reach maximum. The result of force coefficient between the simulation and wind tunnel test shows similarities in trend of the graph and dissimilarities in value which might have occurred due to simplification of the train model, viaduct model and the boundary domain. In particular, the effects of the turbulence intensity and of the train motion on the aerodynamic coefficients have been studied.