Research regarding the action of the aerodynamic forces on a classical passenger train

Abstract

Technological development of the past decades has made it possible in the case of railway vehicles to continually improve dynamic and traction performance. This has determined, in the case of the conventional system (the railway vehicle on rails) a steady increase in travel speeds, reaching the record value 578 km/h. The current trend, in the case of the conventional classical trains composed from the locomotives and wagons are the maximum travel speeds to be at values of 200 - 250km/h. In the case of Electric multiple unit (EMU), the maximum speeds allowed in the current traffic are between 300 - 450 km/h. These increases in travel speeds would not have been possible without first studying in more detail the aerodynamic phenomena that act on the vehicles during their travel. This paper intends to analyses how the aerodynamic forces acts in the case of a classic passenger train formed up of a motor vehicles (locomotive) and three towed vehicles. For the determination of aerodynamic force values, an air flow simulation program will be used in case the train moves under normal atmospheric conditions.