Train Aerodynamics

This lecture will be given by Professor Chris Baker, Professor of Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the University of Birmingham.

It has been appreciated for many years that trains can reduce their energy costs by suitable streamlining of the train ends, with a resulting reduction of aerodynamic drag. However drag reduction is only one of a number of aerodynamic issues that arise in train and infrastructure design. Other factors to consider include the pressure changes passengers experience as trains pass through tunnels, the effects of train slipstreams and pressure pulses on waiting passengers, as well as trackside structures and the stability of trains in high crosswinds.

As aerodynamic effects tend to scale on the square of train velocity, these effects become more pronounced as train speeds increase, and new problems begin to appear. Examples include ballast being picked up off the track bed by aerodynamic forces, and, in extreme cases, sonic booms occurring at the exit of long tunnels.

This presentation will give an overview of the current concerns in this field and describe the work being carried out by the Aerodynamics team at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education, using computational techniques, physical models and on-track measurements.

This lecture will be given by Professor Chris Baker, Professor of Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the University of Birmingham.

For more information and to register, please visit our website www.aerosociety.com/events

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