A design study on a proposed high speed train service in Western India: A synergistic dialogue of optimal speed and cabin comfort using CFD

This study first explores the risks of derailment in a high speed railway journey at critical turnings on the BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex)-Ahmedabad sector of the Western Railways. The above sector was chosen considering its high population density connecting cities spanning one of the busiest routes anywhere. However, it also involves negotiating turns at high elevations around places of high dwelling densities. This calls for a calculation of the breaking distance at such points. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based method is used to obtain the optimal turning speed and thence the breaking distance using ArcGis Pro-they are 29.82km/hr and 5.16km respectively. The values are substantially ameliorated with superelevation corrections and change to 197.85km/hr and 3.924km. The subsequent part of the study focuses on a smart design of an interior cabin capable of providing an optimal 5-6 air changes per hour. High definition rendering of a deluxe cabin is also included showing how the alignment of seating clusters enhance optimal levels of day lighting and the Predicted mean vote (PMV). The cabin PMV of 0.7 is in a very comfortable range according to the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) standards. A proposed raised seating orientation along the windward side for the cabin windows provides maximum comfort along with a high proportion of passive zones. This reduces the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) loads by 15% of the annual budget.