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Gust wind tunnel study on ballast pick-up by high-speed trains

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Abstract

This paper describes the experimental setup, procedure, and results obtained, concerning the dynamics of a body lying on a floor, attached to a hinge, and exposed to an unsteady flow, which is a model of the initiation of rotational motion of ballast stones due to the wind generated by the passing of a high-speed train. The idea is to obtain experimental data to support the theoretical model developed in Sanz-Andres and Navarro-Medina (J Wind Eng Ind Aerodyn 98, 772–783, (2010), aimed at analyzing the initial phase of the ballast train-induced-wind erosion (BATIWE) phenomenon. The experimental setup is based on an open circuit, closed test section, low-speed wind tunnel, with a new sinusoidal gust generator mechanism concept, designed and built at the IDR/UPM. The tunnel’s main characteristic is the ability to generate a flow with a uniform velocity profile and sinusoidal time fluctuation of the speed. Experimental results and theoretical model predictions are in good agreement.

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Abbreviations

A Fp :

Plan form area

b rg :

Blockage ratio of the rotating gates

C :

Flow quality conditioning configuration

c m :

Coefficient of aerodynamic moment with regard to the rearward supporting contact point (RSCP) A (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1
figure 1

Sketch of the configuration considered. Definition of angles. ZML zero moment line, cm center of mass, AC chord

Full size image
c mα :

Slope of the curve of the coefficient of the aerodynamic moment with regard to point A versus angle of attack

d cmA :

Distance between the center of mass and the point A

f(t):

Dimensionless fluctuation of wind speed

f G :

Gust frequency

g :

Acceleration of gravity

h :

Wind tunnel test section height

I :

Moment of inertia with regard to point A

K 0 :

Tachikawa number corresponding to the mean wind velocity U 0

M p :

Stone mass

M 0 :

Mass of objects tested in the wind tunnel

R :

Characteristic stone dimension, e.g. radius of the sphere circumscribing the stone

T :

Dimensionless time

t :

Time

t cn :

Characteristic time of the gust, period of the excitation

t crg :

Characteristic time of the stone rotational motion due to gravity

U(t):

Wind speed (Fig. 1)

U 0 :

Mean wind speed

V 11ST :

Reference wind speed in the wind tunnel test section

V 11STm :

Mean reference wind speed

V 11STa :

Amplitude of the reference wind speed fluctuation

V zSC :

Wind speed measured with the Scanivalve equipment probe placed at height z

V zSCm :

Time-averaged wind speed at height z

V zSCmv :

Mean speed across the wind tunnel test section, of time-averaged wind speed at height z

ω :

Angular frequency

ω F :

Rotational speed of the wind tunnel fan

X :

Gust parameter

x :

Longitudinal coordinate of the wind tunnel reference frame (Fig. 3)

z :

Vertical coordinate of the wind tunnel reference frame

α :

Angle of attack, angle between the horizontal plane and a reference line of the stone

β :

Angle between the stone chord and the horizontal plane (Fig. 1)

δ CL :

Angle between the stone chord and the zero moment line (Fig. 1)

δ Lcm :

Angle between the zero moment line and the center of mass line (Fig. 1)

ε :

Dimensionless amplitude of the sinusoidal wind fluctuation

Ω:

Dimensionless angular frequency

Θ:

Stretched angular position of the zero moment line

Θ0lim :

Limit value of initial stretched angular position θ 0 for stable evolution

ρ a,ρ p :

Density of air, of stone, respectively

θ cm :

Angle between the center of mass line and the horizontal plane

θ L :

Angle between the zero moment line and the horizontal plane (Fig. 1)

θ Llim :

Limit value of θ L for stable evolution

θ Lm :

Mean value of θ L

0:

Initial value (unless otherwise defined)

limL:

Long gust limit

limS:

Short gust limit

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Acknowledgments

The study covered in this paper has been carried with financial support from Administracion de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF) and Patentes Talgo S.A. The authors would like to thank Miguel Rodriguez from ADIF, and Emilio García and David Pérez Rodriguez from Patentes Talgo S.A. for fruitful discussions and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Universitario de Microgravedad ‘Ignacio da Riva’, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (IDR/UPM), ETSI Aeronáuticos, Plaza del Cardenal Cisneros, 3, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    F. Navarro-Medina, A. Sanz-Andres & I. Perez-Grande

Authors
  1. F. Navarro-Medina
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  2. A. Sanz-Andres
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  3. I. Perez-Grande
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Correspondence to F. Navarro-Medina.

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Navarro-Medina, F., Sanz-Andres, A. & Perez-Grande, I. Gust wind tunnel study on ballast pick-up by high-speed trains. Exp Fluids 52, 105–121 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1201-4

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