Numerical investigation of flow structures and aerodynamic pressures around a high-speed train under tornado-like winds

The funnel-shaped vortex structure of tornadoes results in a spatiotemporally varying wind velocity (speed and direction) field. However, very limited full-scale tornado data along the height and radius positions are available to identify and reliably establish a description of complex vortex structure together with the resulting aerodynamic effects on the high-speed train (HST). In this study, the improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) for flow structures and aerodynamic pressures around an HST under tornado-like winds are conducted to provide high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. To demonstrate the accuracy of the numerical method adopted in this study, both field observations and wind-tunnel data are utilized to respectively validate the simulated tornado flow fields and HST aerodynamics. Then, the flow structures and aerodynamic pressures (as well as aerodynamic forces and moments) around the HST at various locations within the tornado-like vortex are comprehensively compared to highlight the importance of considering the complex spatiotemporal wind features in the HST-tornado interactions.