Effects of the solid curtains on natural ventilation performance in a subway tunnel

• The effects of the solid curtains on duct ventilation in a subway tunnel are investigated numerically.
• The suction effect through a duct near the tunnel inlet is strengthened greatly by the adoption of the solid curtains.
• The exhaust effect through a duct near the tunnel outlet is enhanced remarkably by the solid curtains.

Solid curtains can be installed in subway tunnels for the promotion of air ventilation in ventilation ducts in association with the piston effect caused by a running train. With an aim to analyze the effects of solid curtains on duct ventilation performance in a subway tunnel, the current study adopts the tunnel and subway train geometries which are exactly the same as those in a previous model tunnel experiment, but newly incorporates two ventilation ducts connected vertically to the tunnel ceiling and two solid curtains placed at an upstream position of a duct near the tunnel inlet and at a downstream position of another duct near the tunnel outlet, respectively. A three-dimensional CFD model adopting the dynamic layering method for tracking the motion of a train, which was validated against the reported model tunnel experiment in a previous study, is employed to predict the train-induced unsteady airflows in the subway tunnel and in the ducts. The numerical results reveal that the duct ventilation performance in a subway tunnel strongly depends on the operation of the solid curtains. The suction mass flow of the air through the duct near the tunnel inlet and the exhaust mass flow of the air through the duct near the tunnel outlet are increased considerably in the case with the solid curtains in comparison with those in the case without the solid curtains.