On prediction of high speed train noise at design stage: A preliminary study on aerodynamic noise

Abstract

Controlling the exterior and interior noise emission has become an important issue during design of high speed trains. As the operating speed of the train increases, the noise emission characteristics are expected to deviate from that of the existing trains due to several changes in the basic train layout: The traction sources are dispersed at the front, middle, and the rear parts of the train. The noise source distribution about the car exterior and wheel/rail noise generation characteristics are altered as well. For train speed in excess of 350 km/h, the aerodynamic noise component starts to exceed the structure-borne noise component, and even an incremental speed increase is accompanied by a rapid elevation in the noise level. The present study presents an engineering approach for predicting the noise level at the design stage for high speed trains, with particular focus on prediction of the aerodynamic noise.