Noise-barrier road tunnels have become increasingly common in urban areas as traffic volumes rise and noise regulations tighten. Unlike conventional tunnels, their semi-enclosed upper structures restrict natural airflow and reduce external air exchang...
Noise-barrier road tunnels have become increasingly common in urban areas as traffic volumes rise and noise regulations tighten. Unlike conventional tunnels, their semi-enclosed upper structures restrict natural airflow and reduce external air exchange, which can accelerate smoke accumulation during fire incidents. However, practical guidance on suitable ceiling vent geometry, realistic wind representation, and auxiliary ventilation for these tunnels remains limited. This study numerically investigates how ceiling vent type, external wind conditions, and longitudinal gradients jointly affect smoke behavior in soundproof tunnels.
A series of CFD simulations was conducted for five configurations: a baseline model without vents and four operable ceiling smoke-vent types. Three longitudinal gradients (−3, 0, +3%) were considered. External airflow was represented in two ways: (1) fixed uniform wind speeds and (2) natural wind profiles modeled using an Exponential Law distribution. In addition, a hybrid smoke-control strategy was evaluated by installing airflow-inducing fans near both tunnel portals to assess whether mechanical assistance can compensate for vent-only limitations.
Under fixed-wind conditions, the center-pivot vent (EW01) generally produced shorter smoke-travel distances than other vent systems. While it did not satisfy performance criteria in every case, it consistently met the criteria under downhill gradients and often remained acceptable at zero gradient when wind speeds were low to moderate. These results suggest that the pivoting motion of EW01 forms a comparatively favorable exhaust pathway when buoyancy and external wind forces do not strongly oppose each other.
When the Exponential Law wind profile was applied, the relative performance ranking of vent types was broadly maintained, but smoke travel increased overall—particularly near the upper tunnel region where stronger wind velocities raise internal flow resistance. Uphill conditions remained the most unfavorable, with smoke spread exceeding acceptable limits across vent-only cases.
When portal fans were activated, smoke spread was confined within approximately 250 m in all tested scenarios, regardless of gradient or wind representation. The imposed longitudinal airflow stabilized internal flow direction and reduced sensitivity to variable external winds.
Overall, operable vents alone are insufficient to ensure robust smoke control in soundproof tunnels exposed to diverse wind environments. Although EW01 showed the best vent-only performance, its effectiveness depended on slope and wind conditions. The hybrid approach combining EW01 with airflow-inducing fans provided stable performance across all tested cases, suggesting that future designs and retrofits should consider mechanical airflow assistance and explicitly include wind variability and gradients in performance evaluations.