Jae-Hyun Han, Tae-Min Kim and Jung-Soo Kim
International Journal of Railway, vol. 4, no. 4, pp.109-115, 2011

Abstract : An analysis and design method for reducing aerodynamic noise in high-speed trains based on biomimetics of noiseless flight of owl is proposed. Five factors related to the morphology of the flight feather have been selected, and the candidate optimal shape of the flight feather is determined. The turbulent flow field analysis demonstrates that the optimal shape leads to diminished vortex formation by causing separation of the flow as well as allowing the fluid to climb up along the surface of the flight feather. To determine the effect of scaling of the owl’s flight feather on the noise reduction, a two-fold and a four-fold scaled up model of the feather are constructed, and the numerical simulations are carried out to obtain the aerodynamic noise levels for each scale. Original model is found to reduce the noise level by 10 dBA, while two-fold increase in length dimensions reduces the noise by 12 dBA. Validation of numerical solution using wind tunnel experimental measurements is presented as well.

Keyword : Aerodynamic noise, Biomimetics, Computational fluid dynamics, High speed train, Inter-coach space, Owl’s feather