Propagation characteristics of tunnel compression waves with multiple peaks in the waveform of the pressure gradient: Part 1: Field measurements and mathematical model

Abstract

A high-speed train entering a tunnel generates a compression wave. When the compression wave reaches the exit portal of the tunnel, a micro-pressure wave radiates outward. The magnitude of the micro-pressure wave is approximately proportional to the pressure gradient of the compression wave arriving at the exit portal. As the micro-pressure wave can cause environmental problems, tunnel entrance hoods have been installed at many portals of long slab track tunnels on the Japanese high-speed railway, the Shinkansen to reduce the magnitude of the micro-pressure wave. In this study, field measurements were taken in a Shinkansen long slab track tunnel with a hood at its entrance. The compression wave distorts during its propagation through a long slab track tunnel. The dependence of the propagation characteristics on the initial compression waveform was clarified on the basis of field measurements on different trains and hood window configurations. It was shown that compression waves with a waveform of the pressure gradient that has shallow valleys tend to steepen more easily and that the optimum window pattern of the hood depends on the length of the tunnel. Furthermore, a mathematical model corresponding to the results of the field measurements was proposed to describe the distortion of the compression waves.