Experimental study for improving the prevention of railway snow soaring by water sprinkling at air temperature below the freezing point

Abstract

When it snows in the Maibara / Sekigahara area，the Tokaido Shinkansen performs “driving speed down” and “wetting snow by sprinkler” to prevent snow accretion on the car body due to the soaring snow.

Although these snow accretion preventive measures are effective during the daytime when the temperature rises，there is a problem that the snow accretion preventive effect is reduced at minus air temperatures in the early morning.

The reason for this was presumed to be due to the reduction in the effect of wetting snow by water sprinkling at minus air temperatures.

In this study, we confirmed this through laboratory tests and outdoor observations, and developed a sprinkler that effectively wets and turns the snow surface into wet snow at minus air temperatures.

On-site verification was also conducted along the Tokaido Shinkansen, and its effectiveness was confirmed to some extent.