Flow simulation and aerodynamic noise prediction for a high-speed train wheelset

Aerodynamic noise becomes significant for high-speed trains and its prediction in an industrial context is hard to achieve. The aerodynamic and aeroacoustic behaviour of the flow past a highspeed train wheelset, one of the main components of a bogie, are investigated at a scale 1:10 using a two-stage hybrid method of computational fluid dynamics and acoustic analogy. The near-field unsteady flow is obtained by solving the Navier-Stokes equations numerically through delayed detached-eddy simulations and the results are fed to predict the far-field noise signals using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings acoustic analogy. Far-field sound radiated from the scaled model is also measured in a low noise open-jet anechoic wind tunnel. Good agreement is achieved between numerical and experimental results for the dominant frequency of tonal noise and the shape of the spectra. Results show that turbulent flow past the wheelset is characterized by three-dimensional streamwise and spanwise vortices with various scales and orientations. Vortex shedding and flow separation around the wheelset are the key factors for the aerodynamic noise generation. It is found that the radiated tonal noise corresponds to the dominant frequencies of the oscillating lift and drag forces from the wheelset. The directivity of the noise radiated exhibits a typical dipole pattern. As the inflow velocity increases, the shedding frequency scales with the freestream velocity and the axle diameter to yield a Strouhal number of 0.18 while the noise levels increase noticeably. For the current wheelset case investigated without considering the ground effect, the inclusion of wheelset rotation increases the radiated noise levels slightly with similar directivity.