Noise reduction in high-speed train gangways using fairings and side barriers

Abstract

Interior noise in high-speed trains creates passenger discomfort and fatigue. In particular, the noise generated around the gangway between carriages tends to be easily transmitted to the passenger spaces due to the large noise component in the low-frequency region. In addition, the noise from the between-cars space around the gangway exterior tends to increase significantly when the high-speed train is travelling inside a tunnel. Therefore, this study analyses the cause of the noise generated in the gangways and identifies an effective method for reducing it. First, the mechanism for noise generation around the gangways was determined by computational flow noise analysis using a simple two-dimensional cavity model. From this simulation, it was confirmed that noise is generated when air flow enters the cavity. To investigate the influence of noise reduction in the between-cars section, blocking the airflow indirectly by installing fairings or directly by using side barriers was proposed. These noise reduction methods were examined by flow noise analysis, and then applied to an actual high-speed train. The interior noise was measured, and the results show that the use of side barriers was effective in reducing interior noise by 10 dB or more. In particular, a high noise reduction effect was exhibited in the low-frequency region. Therefore, this study verifies that directly blocking the inflow into the between-cars section is an effective noise reduction method.