Case Study: Nippon Sharyo achieves safer, more comfortable bullet trains with Altair AcuSolve

Nippon Sharyo Uses AcuSolve Simulation to Make Japan’s Bullet Trains Safer, More Comfortable

Nippon Sharyo, a Nagoya-based rail manufacturer that builds Japan’s bullet trains, faced complex aerodynamic challenges as high-speed trains enter and pass through tunnels and meet crosswinds—conditions that create pressure waves, loud tunnel-entry noise, vibration and even derailment risk. To address these issues, Nippon Sharyo turned to Altair and its CFD tools (AcuSolve within the HyperWorks suite, with HyperMesh) to evaluate external aerodynamics, passing-train interactions, crosswind loads and internal HVAC and aeroacoustic effects.

Altair implemented AcuSolve-based CFD workflows that let Nippon Sharyo simulate both external and cabin airflow in a single application. Using Altair’s tools, engineers optimized nose and body shapes to minimize tunnel-entry noise, significantly reduced door-frame noise, designed HVAC inlets/outlets for summer and winter comfort, and tuned friction-stir-welding parameters to improve manufacturing productivity. The result was a faster, lower-cost design process with demonstrable reductions in noise and improved vehicle comfort and production efficiency—achievements driven by Altair’s AcuSolve.

Nippon Sharyo

SATO Tetsuro

Manager of Root Technology Group, Technology Integrating Dep., Rolling Stock Div.