Optimization of a Sanding System for a Tramway Car by Numerical Simulation of the Sand-Air Two-Phase Flow

NAFEMS International Journal of CFD Case Studies

Volume 10, March 2013

ISSN 1462-236X

Optimization of a Sanding System for a Tramway Car by Numerical Simulation of the Sand-Air Two-Phase Flow

S Möller¹, D Langmayr^1,2, G Brenn³ and P Krieg^4
1Competence Center - The Virtual Vehicle (ViF), Graz, Austria
²now at: ANSYS Germany GmbH, Otterfing
³Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer (ISW), TU Graz
⁴KNORR-BREMSE GmbH, Mödling

https://doi.org/10.59972/x9am4m4u

Keywords: Gas-Particle Flows, Aspherical Particles, Particle-Wall Collison, FLUENT, DPM Method

Abstract

In tramways, sanding systems are used to avoid gliding while accelerating or slowing down the vehicle under bad rail conditions. The total amount of sand required should be a minimum to reduce costs and unnecessary formation of particulate matter in road traffic.
The main aim of the present paper is to minimize this total amount of sand by means of modern computational methods. For this purpose, the software ANSYS FLUENT is used to develop a numerical simulation model, which allows the flow of a sand-air mixture to be simulated under the conditions of a sanding system.
Of particular importance in the approximation to reality is the correct modelling of the rebound behavior of the sand particles on the surface of the rails. For an accurate prediction of the related physics, a stochastic sub-model was implemented whose parameters were tuned using results from in-house experiments carried out for this purpose. A series of simulation computations led to suggestions of improved design variants of the end piece at the exit of the sanding device and a better focused sand jet. Finally, the improved end pieces were tested in simulations with approximated realistic geometry and boundary conditions.

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Cite this paper

S Möller, D Langmayr, G Brenn, P Krieg, Optimization of a Sanding System for a Tramway Car by Numerical Simulation of the Sand-Air Two-Phase Flow, NAFEMS International Journal of CFD Case Studies, Volume 10, 2013, Pages 43-56, https://doi.org/10.59972/x9am4m4u