Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the External Aerodynamic Noise of High-Speed Train

Aerodynamic noise is the dominant noise source of the high-speed train. It not only seriously affects the passenger comfort and people’s normal life along the railway line, but also may cause fatigue damage to the surrounding equipment and buildings. This manuscript carried out the simulation and experimental study on the external aerodynamic noise of high-speed train, in order to increase the understanding of the noise and hence to be better able to control it. The on-line tests were performed to verify that it is reasonable to simplify the high-speed train model. The turbulent air flow model was then developed, and the external steady flow field was computed by Realizable k-ε turbulence model. Based on the steady flow field, aerodynamic noise sources on the train surface and the external transient flow field were calculated by broadband acoustics source model and large eddy simulation (LES) respectively. The pressures on the train surface were obtained from the results of the transient model. Considering the transient flow field, the far-field aerodynamic noise generated by the high-speed train was finally obtained based on Lighthill-Curle theory. Through the comparison between simulations and on-line tests, it is shown that the numerical model gives reliable aerodynamic noise predictions. This research is significant to the study and control of the aerodynamic noise of high-speed train.