Research

Services

The CSTB provides its expertise to car and train manufacturers and equipment manufacturers, for every aspect, from the issues surrounding aerodynamics combined with driving in rain or snow, to the health and comfort of passengers. The CSTB also works more generally with the stakeholders of development on issues involving the integration of systems of transportation into their environments. Its expertise is based on its skills and experimental resources applied to a systemic approach, airflow, acoustic impact and the quality of ambient conditions in confined spaces (acoustics, quality of ambient conditions, lighting and vibrations) developed within its benchmark fields in construction and urban development.

Aerodynamics

Our services

Automotive
  • External aerodynamics and thermal and airflow aspects of the vehicle interior
  • Reproduction and study of driving situations in extreme weather conditions (rain, snow, fog and mist)
  • Aerothermal properties of the braking systems
  • Display and measurement of water flows on bodywork and windows
  • Qualification of the operation of windshield wiping systems up to 250 km/h
  • Analysis of two-phase flows (rain, snow, sand and dust)
  • Optimization of competition vehicles
Rail
  • Study of the behavior of trains in crosswinds and resistance to forward motion
  • Aerodynamic analysis of appendages, including pantographs
  • Behavior of trains in severe weather conditions (rain, snow and dust storms)

Methodology

  • Simulation of all types of rain up to 140 km/h, and wind with snow (dry or wet snow).
  • Rainwater seeding with UV reagent to visualize the flow of water on bodywork and windows.
  • Image acquisition and processing: special non-intrusive method for measuring the thickness of films of water on vehicles.
  • Visual displays of flows
  • Laser surface velocimeter using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)
  • Digital simulation (CFD) of aerodynamic and two-phase flows

Technological platforms

References

Quality of indoor ambient conditions and integration into the environment

Acoustics

Our services
  • Prediction of noise pollution and simulation of soundscapes close to surface transportation systems (roads and railways)
  • Design of innovative transportation noise protection systems
  • Characterization of the acoustic quality of the interior of a vehicle: intelligibility and noise transmission between the interior and exterior of the vehicle
  • Rendering of realistic soundscapes, including transportation sounds
Methodology
  • Digital simulation of noise exposure
  • Sound rendering
  • Synthesis of transportation noise: driving, internal combustion engines and reactors
Internal tool developed by the CSTB:
  • MICADO: prediction of the effects of acoustic diffraction.
    MICADO is calculation software based on the Boundary Element Method (BEM), dedicated to precisely predicting acoustic propagation close to obstacles of randomly complex shapes and sizes and made of ordinary materials.
Software developed and marketed by the CSTB:
  • ICARE: 3D acoustic simulation in complex environments.
    ICARE is a simulation tool of acoustic propagation using asymptotic methods in complex 3D environments. This tool can be used for optimizing the acoustics of a performance hall and predicting intelligibility in vehicle interiors or congested spaces.

Lighting

Our services
  • Assessment and optimization of artificial lighting systems for visual comfort in vehicle interiors or in the urban environment
  • Optimization of the energy consumption of external and internal lighting systems (in vehicle interiors) Methods and tools
Methodology
Internal tool developed by the CSTB:
  • PHANIE: prediction of lighting environments.
    PHANIE is physical lighting simulation software, capable of processing highly complex scenes. Right from the design phase of a room, a building, or a vehicle interior, this software can define and visualize lighting scenarios depending on multiple parameters: architecture, natural lighting sources and climate, lamps and light fixtures and type of materials.

Indoor air quality

Our services
  • Analysis and monitoring of airborne contaminants (biological and physico-chemical)
  • Assistance with developing and assessing technological solutions for air purification, microbiological decontamination and indoor air quality for vehicle interiors
Methodology
  • Large-scale measurement campaigns (regional / national)
  • Static analysis of exposure databases
  • Measurement campaigns in full scale controlled environments
  • On-site expertise: ventilation/chemical pollutants/micro-organisms
  • Digital simulation of ventilation and hygrothermal aspects
  • Laboratory measurements of products: emission/adsorption/reactivity of pollutants
Technological platforms
Laboratories:
  • assessment of the action of microorganisms
  • applied virology
  • physics of aerosols (particulate emission of products)
  • bacteriology and mycology
  • assessment of the emission of volatile organic compounds
References

Vibrations

Our services
  • Study of the propagation of vibrations from ground transportation
  • Prediction of structure-borne noise
Methodology
  • Experimental characterization of railway vibration sources
  • On-site measurement of the movement of foundations
  • Vibration analysis of sites (upstream assessment of the vibration risk)
Internal tool developed by the CSTB:
  • MEFISSTO: vibration propagation in the ground and in structures
    MEFISSTO is software for calculating the propagation of vibrations in the ground and structures. It is based on the finite element method (structures) and the boundary element method (propagation in the ground). For example, it can be used for sizing systems for reducing the vibrations transmitted to buildings or to predict surface vibrations due to the passing of a train through a tunnel.

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