Tolerance Estimation of Human Postural Stability against Train Drafts

In recent years, train speeds have been increased for earlier arrival times as part of efforts to improve service to travelers. Meanwhile, the speed of train drafts (the winds generated when trains pass by station platforms) increases in proportion to the train speed. JR companies have therefore deployed adequate safety measures such as the installation of platform doors and aerodynamic optimization of train nose configurations. Since train speeds are expected to increase further in the future, it is essential to carry out basic research on the effects of train wind on passengers waiting on station platforms. In the past, many field investigations have been conducted, and the results have suggested that train drafts exhibit characteristic waveforms such as the triangular waves observed when the train nose passes [1]. However, there have been no studies on the effects of such wind on human beings. Although Penwarden proposed a table describing the effects of natural wind on human beings based on daily experience and observation [2], the table did not describe the effects of wind waveforms. We therefore conducted a wind tunnel experiment to investigate the effects of winds with triangular waveforms on human beings. This paper outlines the experiment, and the results are used to analyze the effects of wind peak and wind duration on human beings (with a focus on postural stability) by employing a statistical model and a physical model. 2. Wind tunnel experiments