Deadline: Applications will be accepted at any time until the position is filled.

The high-speed railway near strait and coast areas, and in mountainous areas operates in strong unsteady winds. The combined effects of unsteady winds (e.g. gust) and local complex topography on aerodynamics of the train and bridge system could be catastrophic (e.g. 1986, 1994 and 1998, Japan; 2007, China). These have urged the importance to analyse the aerodynamic characteristics of the train-bridge system as a whole.

The aerodynamic characteristics of a high-speed train and bridge system in complex winds and its aerodynamic interference are the key factors of train travelling safety and riding comfort. Usually incoming flows for a train-bridge system are assumed in existing studies to be steady or quasi-steady for wind tunnel and CFD modelling. These certainly don’t simulate realistic winds with gusts and weather-scale variations. Researchers recently have noticed that such large-scale variations have significant impact on the aerodynamics forces. Ignoring such information in wind tunnel and CFD models may produce a significantly biased estimation, e.g. for analysing wind-induced train overturning accidents.

The project consists of development of a CFD platform, including inflow boundary conditions, moving mesh techniques, gust effects in Large-Eddy Simulations, for modelling the aerodynamics of moving train and bridge systems. This work will provide deep understanding and establish technology basis for improving aerodynamic stabilization for high-speed trains in complex winds.

The funding covers EU/UK fees and stipend. Overseas students may have to cover the difference between EU/UK fees and international fees.

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Dr Zheng-Tong Xie, Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics research group, Email: z.xie<στο>soton.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 4493.