Investigation of bogie positions on the aerodynamic drag and near wake structure of a high-speed train

Abstract As train speed increases, the aerodynamic drag reduction becomes increasingly significant. The aim of this paper is to find out appropriate bogie positions to reduce the drag of a high-speed train. In this paper, based on the three-dimensional steady incompressible Reynolds-averaged N-S equations and the Realizable k - e two-equation turbulence model, the effects of bogie positions on the aerodynamic performance and near wake of the three-carriage high-speed train are presented. The mesh resolution and methodology are validated against wind tunnel test. The results show that the front bogie position of the head car has a significant impact on the aerodynamic performance of the head car, leading to different aerodynamic drag forces. When the bogie moves towards the rear by 1 m and 2 m, the aerodynamic drag forces of the head car reduce by 7.75% and 10.56%, and the total drag decreases by 5.57% and 6.58%, respectively.