Evaluation Method of Railway Vehicles� Resistance Against a Tornado-like Vortex

In this study, the effects of tornado-like vortex parameters on the dynamic responses of a vehicle were evaluated using a dynamic analysis model, and a method for evaluation of the vehicles' resistance to overturning due to tornadoes was examined.Firstly, the model of wind speed field around a vortex was modified to reproduce all situations where a vehicle encounters a tornado-like vortex, and the dynamic analysis model for aerodynamic forces and vehicle responses was constructed.Secondly, using the constructed dynamic analysis model, the vehicle responses were evaluated by varying the vortex parameters to identify the conditions under which the responses became large.Finally, the dynamic analysis results under the identified conditions were compared with the quasi-static analysis results using the RTRI's detailed equation which used in the actual train operation.The results derived utilizing the constructed dynamic analysis model under the identified conditions showed that the RTRI's detailed equation could be used to evaluate vehicles' resistance to overturning on the safe side.