An Aerothermal Study of Influence of Blockage Ratio on a Supersonic Tube Train System

• Published in: Journal of thermal science Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 529 - 540
• Main Authors: Sui, Yang, Niu, Jiqiang, Yuan, Yanping, Yu, Qiujun, Cao, Xiaoling, Wu, Dan, Yang, Xiaofeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerodynamic characteristics; Choking; Classical and Continuum Physics; Detached eddy simulation; Eddy simulation; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Evacuation systems; Heat and Mass Transfer; K-omega turbulence model; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Rapid transit systems; Shear stress; Supersonic speed; Turbulence models; Two dimensional models; Wind tunnel testing; Wind tunnels; choking limit; aerothermal environment; tube train; blockage ratio; numerical simulation
• ISSN: 1003-2169; 1993-033X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11630-020-1281-7

Evacuated tube transportation is an important development direction for the high-speed transportation technology of the future. However, a train running at supersonic speed in a closed tube can create an unstable aerothermal phenomenon, causing the temperature to rise sharply inside the tube and endangering the safe operation of trains and equipment. The blockage ratio is one of the key factors affecting the aerodynamic characteristics in the tube. In this paper, a 2D axisymmetric model and Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) based on the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k - ω turbulence model are used to study the aerothermal environment in the tube. The calculation method used in this paper was verified by a wind tunnel experiment. The aerothermal phenomenon and distribution of the flow field in the tube with different blockage ratios were compared and analysed. The results show that the aerothermal environment is significantly affected by the blockage ratio. A choking limit formed in the flow field will aggravate the aerodynamic phenomenon as the blockage ratio increases, which further deteriorates the aerothermal environment of the tube. Moreover, the existence of the choking limit, shock wave, and Mach disk make the flow field in the tube more complicated.