High-Speed Rail Development

Dear Colleagues,

Safety, speed, and efficiency have been everlasting topics in the development of railway systems. All of these issues are closely related with aerodynamic effects. In the year 2022, China launched its first 600 km/h level high-speed maglev. In the first half of this year, China launched a new engineering prototype of wheeled train-CR 450 series, which is designed to cruise under 400 km/h and achieved a maximum experimental speed of 453 km/h. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic during recent years has also raised tremendous public concern regarding the transmission of airborne pathogens in railway passenger compartments. During this process, various aerodynamic challenges, such as aerodynamic load, pressure waves, passenger compartment flow control, passenger compartment climate comfort, vehicle ventilation, air-assisted cooling of high-power devices, and flow-induced vibration, have emerged. Meanwhile, considering the local acceleration effect of the flow around the railway vehicle, as well as other flow acceleration contribution factors such as vehicle crossing in a double line tunnel, the maximum relative speed of railway vehicles as well as the maximum flow in between vehicles is approaching the speed of sound. All of these aerodynamic-related issues, either resolved or remain to be resolved, are directly facing the boundary of high-speed ground vehicle development. Various counter measures and preventive measures, ranging from aerodynamic design optimization, vehicle dynamic control, as well as prognostic and health management (PHM)-related issues in the long-term servicing process of railway vehicles, etc., are needed to be taken seriously with respect to the above-mentioned challenges. Therefore, it is of great importance for engineers and scientists in railway transportation systems to share these key issues and scientific discoveries during the development of high-speed railway systems in recent years and shed light on the upcoming challenge of the next stage in railway vehicle development.

This Special Issue will discuss the recent efforts and research advances achieved in high-speed railway transportation systems. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to：

• Train aerodynamics;
• Maglev aerodynamics;
• Airborne contaminants in railway vehicle passenger compartments;
• Railway vehicle passenger compartment passenger safety and comfort;
• Railway vehicle passenger compartment climate control;
• Tunneling aerodynamics and pressure waves;
• Railway vehicle ventilation;
• Aerodynamic shape optimization for railway vehicle;
• Railway vehicle safety under strong wind condition;
• Air assisted cooling and heat transfer in high-speed systems;
• Flow-induced vibration (e.g., pantograph, windshield, etc.);
• Aerodynamic noise issue in railway system;
• Counter measures on the aerodynamic challenge in railway transportation;
• Intelligent maintenance theory and methodology In railway transportation;
• Prognostic and health management (PHM)-related issue in the long-term servicing process of railway vehicles.

Dr. Bosen Qian
Dr. Xiaoping Ma
Guest Editors

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• railway vehicle
• aerodynamics
• passenger safety and comfort
• railway maintenance