Assessment of wind angle and track geometric characteristics’ impact on the human vibration comfort in high-speed train operations

Abstract

The modern development of high - speed trains render them more susceptible to aerodynamic effects. However, apart from train running safety, relatively few studies focus on the influence of crosswind on passenger riding comfort. Therefore, the aerodynamic force (moment) of the train is introduced as an external excitation in the train - track - seat - human body coupling model. Subsequently, the passenger ride comfort under crosswinds at different wind angles is investigated. Furthermore, based on the primary vibration frequencies of the train and the human body, the vibration performance of the car body within a wavelength range of 0–100 m is analyzed. Also, the relationship between track irregularity types and passenger ride comfort is explored. The results indicate that under crosswinds, the head car mainly experiences lateral vibration, while the middle and tail cars exhibit vertical vibration. Within the frequency range below 10 Hz, both the car body and the human body display relatively significant vibrations. Moreover, as the wind angle increases, the vibration intensity also rises. In addition, when the train runs at high speed under crosswinds, wavelengths of 2 m, 6 m, and 90 m should be avoided as far as possible. This is to ensure that the train does not experience more obvious vibration fluctuations. By comparing the impacts of track irregularity on riding comfort, it is found that direction irregularity leads to more serious lateral vibration of the head car. Under the excitation of track irregularity, the lateral vibration of the hu-man head mainly occurs at 4 - 6 Hz and 43 Hz, and the vertical vibration mainly occurs at 1.3 Hz and 30 Hz.