STUDY BY HYDRAULIC ANALOGY OF THE PASSAGE OF HIGH-SPEED TRAINS THROUGH TUNNELS

When a train enters a tunnel, an unsteady flow of air occurs in the tunnel near the front end of the train, and this disturbance is propagated down the tunnel as a pressure wave. Accompanying this is a change of air pressure on the exterior of the train. In view of the proposal for a high-speed ground-transportation system in this country to operate in the speed range of 250 miles per hour, and faster, it is important to know what pressure fluctuations to expect when fast trains enter tunnels. In order to surmount experimental difficulties assocciated with high-speed models and transient phenomena, a series of experiments using a water table and two-dimensional train and tunnel models were begun. The work has now been extended to several tunnel-entry shapes, and to square and elliptical train section-models. Experiments included trains entering along the tunnel centerline, as well as trains entering near one wall of the tunnel, and traveling along that wall through the tunnel. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Engineering Projects Laboratory
  Cambridge, MA  United States 
• Authors:
  • Mills, J M
  • Wilson, D G
• Publication Date: 1967-12-15

Media Info

• Pagination: 52 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerodynamics; High speed rail; Intelligent transportation systems; Pressure waves; Tunnels; Wave motion
• Old TRIS Terms: Advanced systems
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00039023
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Contract Numbers: C-85-65t
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 24 1973 12:00AM