High-speed Railway Thermal Management for Sustainable Future Transportation
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Study proposes a thermal management system with cooling tubes for track slab temperature regulation.
Multiphysics model reflects hydraulic-thermal-mechanical mechanisms in Guangzhou's hot climate.
Cooling system reduces temperature difference by 70%, from 18.3°C to 6.7°C.
Vertical displacement decreases by 40%, from 0.156 mm to 0.099 mm.
Cooling tubes' heat transfer capacity reaches 2296 W, powered by renewable solar energy.
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ABSTRACT
High-speed railways suffer from engineering damage, such as cracks and fractures, which are caused by the high internal temperature stress of the ballastless track slabs in hot climates. To address this issue, this study proposes a thermal management system using cooling tubes to actively regulate the temperature of the track slab. A multiphysics model of a high-speed railway in Guangzhou is established to reflect the hydraulic-thermal-mechanical mechanisms. Moreover, a full-scale experimental platform are established to monitor the dynamic temperature distribution of the track slab in hot climates in real-time and validate the numerical model. The study demonstrates that the maximum temperature difference of conventional ballastless track slabs can reach 18.3 °C, and the uniformity coefficient (UC) is 5.75. However, the thermal management system can effectively reduce the temperature difference by 70% to 6.7 °C, and the UC to 3.55. The corresponding vertical displacement decreases by 40% from 0.156 mm to 0.099 mm. The cooling tube’s maximum heat transfer capacity is2296 W, which is powered by renewable solar energy. Then, the factors that affect the system performance have been studied. This study can ensure the smooth and efficient operation of high-speed railways in hot climates. -
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REFERENCES
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Cite this article:
You T., Zhang Y., Sun Z., et al. (2025). High-speed Railway Thermal Management for Sustainable Future Transportation. Energy Use 1:100024. https://doi.org/10.59717/ipj.energy-use.2025.100024
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You T., Zhang Y., Sun Z., et al. (2025). High-speed Railway Thermal Management for Sustainable Future Transportation. Energy Use 1:100024. https://doi.org/10.59717/ipj.energy-use.2025.100024
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Figure 1.
Schematic diagram and principle of track slab module of the thermal management system
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Figure 2.
Numerical model of a ballastless track slab with the thermal management system
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Figure 3.
Experimental setup
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Figure 4.
Testing result and validation
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Figure 5.
Three-dimensional temperature field
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Figure 6.
Three-dimensional displacement field
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Figure 7.
Temperature fields of non-isothermal pipe flow
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Figure 8.
Influence of operation conditions and tube designs on the thermal management performance