Influence of subway train fire locations on the characteristics of smoke movement in a curved tunnel

PLoS One. 2023 Jan 3;18(1):e0279818. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279818. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Scenario models of a moving subway train can help investigate the influence of different fire locations on smoke propagation characteristics in curved tunnels. To this end, this study adopts the three-dimensional Unsteady Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes equations method and the renormalization group k-ε two-equation turbulence model with buoyancy correction for numerical analysis. The motion of the train is replicated using the slip grid technique. The results indicate that when a fire breaks out on a moving train in tunnels, the piston wind leads the longitudinal movement of the smoke. If a fire erupts in the head or middle car of a moving train, the time of smoke backflow is delayed by 30 s or 17 s, respectively, compared to that for the tail car. The obtained results provide a theoretical basis for reasonably controlling the smoke flow in subway tunnels and reducing casualties in fire accidents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Railroads*
  • Smoke* / analysis
  • Wind

Substances

  • Smoke

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Numerical Wind Tunnel Project (Grant No. 2018-ZT1A02) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University (Grant No. 2022zzts0723).