Risks of Ear Complaints of Passengers and Drivers While Trains Are Passing Through Tunnels at High Speed: A Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study

Pengpeng Xie, Yong Peng, Tiantian Wang and Honghao Zhang
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Pengpeng Xie: Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Tracks, Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
Yong Peng: Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Tracks, Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
Tiantian Wang: Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Tracks, Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
Honghao Zhang: Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Tracks, Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-20

Abstract: Ear complaints induced by interior pressure transients are common experiences for passengers and crew members when high-speed trains are passing through tunnels. However, approaches to assessing the risks of the pressure-related aural discomfort have not been reported until recently. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hazards of interior pressure transients of high-speed train on human ears combining the effects of operation speed and seal index. Moving model tests were conducted to obtain the pressure transients when the model train runs in the tunnel. The recorded data were transformed into the interior pressures by empirical formula. Furthermore, the aural sensations were divided into four levels hierarchically and the range for each level was derived by logistic regression analysis method and represented by three biomechanical metrics. Furthermore, a human middle ear finite element (FE) model was used to simulate its dynamics under the interior pressures. The results indicate that lifting operation speed from 250 km/h to 350 km/h in tunnel will prolong the duration of ear complaints by more than two times whereas improving the seal index from 4 s to 12 s will reduce the incidences of the onset of tinnitus and hearing loss by more than ten times. In addition, the duration of aural comfort shortens from the head car to the tail car against the running direction. It is desirable that enhancing the seal index improve the aural sensations of the passengers and crew members considering the lifting operation speed of high-speed train.

Keywords: high-speed train; aural discomfort; human middle ear FE model; moving model tests; tunnel environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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