Aerodynamic Study of High-Speed Train’s Drag Coefficient by Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

This research focuses on studying airflow characteristics on three selected models of high-speed trains' body surfaces with different velocities. There will be nine simulation case results consisting of the data about drag coefficient, drag force, lift force, and lift coefficient. This study focuses on the drag coefficient by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics. Three high-speed train models have been designed, which are modelled from Tokaido Shinkansen N700s (Japan), Shanghai Maglev (China) and KTX-Eum (South Korea). With a lack of data and less information about the High-Speed Trains model due to the private and confidentiality of each company, only a simple design had been made but still looked the same as the real-life high-speed trains model with real scale value. For the velocity, Tokaido Shinkansen N700s were set to 79.1667 m/s, 50 m/s and 25 m/s, while Shanghai Maglev were set to 119.72 m/s, 69.305 m/s and 41.66 m/s. For the KTX-Eum, the velocity was set to 79.44 m/s, 50 m/s and 25 m/s.  The result shows the different trend of coefficient between the three High-Speed Trains models. The data has been collected, and the lowest value for ecoefficiency was Tokaido Shinkansen N700s (Japan). It’s proof that the lowest value of each coefficient will be used to determine which model has great aerodynamic efficiency performance with the speed gain but low usage of energy such as electricity. The higher the speed or velocity, the higher the velocity streamlines, thus creating a powerful downward airflow that can generate higher thrust force.