Overview

The webinar will focus on the aerodynamic phenomena and effects associated with the high-speed passage of a train through a tunnel. We will begin by describing the pressure waves generated as a high-speed train enters a tunnel, passes through changes in tunnel geometry, crosses another train and exits the tunnel. Their generation, propagation, reflection, and transmission will be discussed. Airflow patterns induced inside the tunnel, influenced by blockage ratio, tunnel geometry and train speed, will also be presented.

In the second part, we will examine the impact of these pressure waves on passenger tympanic comfort and safety, both on the platforms of underground stations and on board high-speed trains. Their effects on tunnel equipment, such as ventilation systems and platform screen doors, as well as on the trains themselves, will also be addressed. Finally, we will discuss aerodynamic drag and the factors that help reduce it, including the construction of pressure relief shafts or the creation of a partial air vacuum.

This will lead us to conclude with a brief exploration of the hyperloop concept. The presentation will be supported by experimental results and numerical simulations based on real world case studies.

Learning outcomes

In this event, you will:

• have an appreciation of the aerodynamic challenges experienced in a high-speed rail tunnel environment and what measures should be taken during the design and construction of such systems
• obtain a good overview of different systems that are affected and will give the audience a general understanding of the problem.

Program

• 5.30 pm AEDT: Presentation begins
• 6.30 pm AEDT: Presentation ends

About the speakers

Michele Mossi

President, CEO and Founder, GESTE

Michele Mossi (born 1970) is a physicist and engineer who graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), where he also earned a PhD in aerodynamics. He is the founding CEO of GESTE Engineering, an engineering consultancy specializing in railway technology and safety. He specializes in aerodynamics, ventilation, and safety. As a consulting engineer and project director, he has contributed to numerous projects in these fields for railway, metro, road, and river tunnels across Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. He is also an expert in hyperloop system.

Paolo Molteni

Project Manager – Business Unit Manager FLOWS, GESTE

Paolo Molteni (1971), an aerospace engineer and PhD graduate from the Politecnico di Milano, is a consulting engineer specialized in ventilation, aerodynamics, thermal engineering, and pedestrian flows. He has specific training in computational fluid dynamics and is an expert in numerical simulation and computation (CFD). He is the Head of the FLOWS Business Unit (aerodynamics, thermal engineering, ventilation, and flows) at GESTE Engineering. He has carried out numerous projects involving the ventilation of metro tunnels, road and railway tunnels, as well as stations and buildings open to the public. He is the main developer of the 1D calculation software TNT, designed for the simulation of unsteady, compressible, and non-isothermal flows in complex tunnel networks.