Characteristic analysis of air pressure wave generated by high-speed trains traveling through a tunnel

It is a complicated dynamic phenomenon when a transient pressure pulse is triggered by two high-speed trains passing each other in a tunnel. The air pressure pulse is a transient excitation to side wall of the car body. It can stimulate almost all vibration modes of the car body and the correlated assemblies, cause serious aerodynamic noise, and have important impacts on car body distortion, train noise, and operation safety. This article analyzes the time-frequency characteristics and main parameters of field-measured the air pressure wave, and its relationship with the train velocity as well as the vibration of the car body. Cepstrum analysis concludes that in the process of the meeting, the air pressure wave in tunnel crossing is a multiplying pressure wave instead of a superposed wave. The pressure pulse during the meeting is non-symmetrical one featured with a sharp front, large amplitude, fluctuating central section, and less sharp tail. The pulse width is inversely proportional to the train speed. As the speed increases, the impulse amplitude is amplified, and the speed of pulse front is advanced.