Aerodynamic Simulation of High-Speed Capsule in the Hyperloop System
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2017, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved. The Hyperloop system is a novel conceptual system aimed to provide a high-speed public transportation service in the future, featured with a reduced-pressure tube in which pressurized capsules ride on a cushion of air that is driven by a combination of linear induction motors and air compressor. This work involves numerical simulations based on finite volume method to study the effects of different factors on the aerodynamic drag on a capsule running at subsonic and transonic speeds in Hyperloop system. Investigation includes the study of the effects of the internal tube pressure, operating speed, vehicle shape and air compressor on aerodynamic drag on a high-speed capsule. The compressible Navier-Stokes equations were solved by using k-w SST turbulent modelling. The simulated results show that the operating speed and different working vacuum pressure significantly affects the aerodynamic drag of the capsule. Investigations with respect to different shapes of the head as well as that of the tail indicate the optimum shape for minimum drag. Suction mechanism at the head was applied to study the additional reduction effect of the aerodynamic drag on the capsule. It was observed that aerodynamic drag was decreasing with the on-board air compressor, which is related to a means of increasing the maximum operating speed over a closed pod and provide a small amount of thrust. Those results provide guidelines for the initial design and construction of the Hyperloop system.
