The influence of aerodynamic forces on the vehicle

bodywork of railway traction

Sorin ARSENE*,1, Ioan SEBESAN1
*Corresponding author
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, Transport Faculty,
Depart Rolling Stock Railway
Splaiul Independentei no. 313, Sector 6, Code 060042, Bucharest, Romania
sorinarsene@gmail.com*, ioan_sebesan@yahoo.com
1

DOI: 10.13111/2066-8201.2016.8.1.3
Received: 05 September 2015 / Accepted: 10 November 2015 / Published: March 2016
Copyright2016. Published by INCAS. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

The 36th Caius Iacob Conference on Fluid Mechanics and its Technical Applications
29 - 30 october, 2015, Bucharest, Romania, (held at INCAS, B-dul Iuliu Maniu 220, sector 6)
Section 1. Aerodynamic Design
Abstract: The increase of the driving speed in railway system requires a comprehensive analysis on
the vehicle aerodynamics, on the manner in which the performance is affected or related to the
additional loads on various components. The aerodynamic forces have a greater impact in the case of
medium and high values of the relative velocity of the air flow near the vehicle. This paper aims to
analyze the loads caused by the aerodynamic forces on the bodywork of the electric locomotive, of
5100 kW LE 060 EA type. In this respect, the bodywork and the chassis of locomotive were modelled
in a 3D format; then a series of air flow simulations were performed for different values of the vehicle
velocity ranging between 0 km/h and 200 km/h.
Key Words: bodywork structure, aerodynamic forces, railway vehicles.

1. INTRODUCTION
During their movement, on the rail motor vehicles the thrust developed by the power
equipment is acting together with the amount of resistant forces opposing the movement in
the desired direction. [1]
The resistance forces acting while the vehicle is moving on the towing section profile
which is in alignment and plane (straight line without ruling gradients) are determined by
friction, such as: friction on the axles bearings, rolling and / or sliding friction, road surface
friction, air friction, etc. [1]
Generalized formula for determining the resistance to motion for the railway vehicles,
also known as Davis relationship [2-5], is:
Rveh A B v C v 2

(1)
Where Rveh Total resistance to motion of the vehicle; A Mechanical rolling resistances
caused by the axle loads; Bv Non-aerodynamic resistance to motion; Cv2 Aerodynamic
drag; v Speed of the vehicle.
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Davis constants from the resistance to motion formula depend on the type and
characteristics of each vehicle. In the case of locomotive of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type these
constants are given in the literature of the field [1, 6], and summarized in Table 1:
Table 1 The values of Davis constants for locomotive of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type

Type of vehicle
LE 060 EA - v.1 (120 t)
LE 060 EA - v.2 (120 t)

A [N]
1770
1500

B [N/(km/h)]
5,9
12

C [N/(km/h)2]
0,333
0,3

The explicit formula for parameter "c" regarding aerodynamic resistances according to
the literature of specialty [7-15], is:

c
where: C x

Cx S
2

(2)

2 Fax

aerodynamic coefficient of air gliding, also known under the name

2
S v
of air penetration coefficient (dimensionless);
S the frontal area of the vehicle in the cross-sectional area (m2);
the air density in the moving vehicle (kg/m3);
Fax drag frontal force (N);
v the speed of the fluid (air) (m/s).

2. SIMULATION OF THE AIR FLOW

For this simulation, we considered the model of the bodywork and the chassis of the electric
locomotive, of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type. This type of locomotive is most used by the
railway companies from Romania for the traction of the train.
We started by the geometric modeling of the bodywork and the chassis of electric
locomotive at scale 1:1, using Autodesk Inventor. (fig. 1)

a) The bodywork of the locomotive of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type

b) The chassis of the locomotive of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type

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The influence of aerodynamic forces on the vehicle bodywork of railway traction

c) The assembly formed by the bodywork and the chassis

Fig. 1 The 3D model of assembly formed by the bodywork and the chassis of the electric of 5100 kW LE 060
EA type at scale 1:1

To simulate the air flow we considered eleven cases in which the vehicle moves at a
constant speed in the range of 0km/h 200km/h (5m/s, 10m/s, 15m/s, 20m/s, 25m/s, 30m/s,
35m/s, 40m/s, 45m/s, 50m/s, 55m/s).
The delimitation of the air flow volume is managed as follows:
- we considered A vertical plane corresponding to the wheel track of the vehicle and
another plane located at 11.5 m from it were considered;
- two planes symmetrically located at 10 m from the vehicle longitudinal plan were
considered for the transverse section;
- two planes located at 15 m and 25 m, respectively, from the transverse plane were
considered for the longitudinal section.
The first plane of the longitudinal section (15 m) corresponds to the front part of the
locomotive considered in the air flow direction while the second plane of the section (25 m)
corresponds to the rear part of the vehicle (fig. 2).

11,5 m

25 m

10 m

10 m

15 m

Fig. 2 The considered air flow volume

Two values were considered as input parameters for the atmospheric conditions:
101325Pa for pressure and 293.2 K for temperature, respectively.
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By simulating the air flow, we could determine the pressures exerted on the bodywork
chassis assembly, the dynamic pressure of the air and the aerodynamic resistances for the 11
analyzed modes.
Fig. 3 shows the distribution of the pressure with the contour lines on the bodywork and
the chassis obtained by simulations.

V=5 m/s

V=30 m/s

V=10 m/s

V=35 m/s

V=15 m/s

V=40 m/s

V=20 m/s

V=45 m/s

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The influence of aerodynamic forces on the vehicle bodywork of railway traction

V=25 m/s

V=50 m/s

V=55 m/s
Fig. 3 Pressures exerted on the bodywork and the chassis of 5100 kW LE 060 EA type

The variation of the aerodynamic resistance generated by the bodywork and the chassis
obtained during the simulation flow of air is shown in fig. 4.
Fx 26000
[N] 24000
22000
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0
20
5 m/s

40

60
80
10 m/s

100 120
15 m/s

25 m/s

30 m/s

35 m/s

45 m/s

50 m/s

55 m/s

140

160 180
20 m/s
40 m/s

200

t [s]

Fig. 4 Aerodynamic resistances obtained by simulation

The superposition of the resistance to motion of the locomotive over the fixed/stabilized
values of aerodynamic resistance caused by the bodywork and the chassis is shown in fig. 5.
Fax, 20000
RL 18000
[N] 16000
14000
12000

10000
8000
6000
4000
2000

0
0

10

15

20
Fax

25

30
RL

35

40

45

50

55

v
[m/s]

Fig. 5 The total resistance to motion of the locomotive and aerodynamic drag of bodywork and the chassis
obtained by simulation
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3. CONCLUSION
As can be seen from fig. 3, increasing the speed of the vehicle determines, implicitly
increasing pressure exercised on the bodywork and the chassis for the analyzed locomotive.
The aerodynamic forces exert a dynamic load on the bodywork and the chassis of the
traction vehicle according to its displacement speed.
The increased speed of moving will lead to higher values of aerodynamic forces. These
values represent a growing percentage of the value of the total resistance to motion of the vehicle.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is supported by the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources
Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and the Romanian
Government under the contract number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/137390

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INCAS BULLETIN, Volume 8, Issue 1/ 2016