IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.

Getting Started Guide

EQUA Simulation AB, February 2010

Copyright EQUA Simulation AB 2009-10

IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation 3.0, Getting Started Guide  EQUA Simulation AB 2009-10

Contents
1. About this document .............................................................................................4
2. Introduction...........................................................................................................5
2.1. Problems treated ..........................................................................................5
3. Tutorial 1: Ventilating a simple tunnel................................................................7
3.1. Starting a new calculation case (system form) ..........................................7
3.2. Connecting two components .......................................................................7
3.3. Specifying vehicles (Vehicle data form) .....................................................8
3.4. Editing components (Entry component)..................................................10
3.5. Section component .....................................................................................13
3.6. Specifying path reports..............................................................................15
3.7. Specifying simulation data ........................................................................16
3.8. Continuing Tutorial 1: fans and standing traffic....................................19
3.9. Jet fan parameters .....................................................................................20
4. Tutorial 2: Fire in the tunnel .............................................................................23
4.1. Adding a fire to a tunnel section...............................................................23
4.2. Specifying global data................................................................................24
4.3. Viewing and printing path reports...........................................................27
4.4. Viewing 2D fields........................................................................................29
5. Additional RTV components...............................................................................31
5.1. Tunnel branch ............................................................................................31
5.2. Damper........................................................................................................32
5.3. Axial fan......................................................................................................33
5.4. Given flow (independent of pressure) ......................................................34
5.5. Simplified air injection or extraction point (FanDuct)...........................35
5.6. Saccardo nozzle ..........................................................................................36
5.7. Recirculation ..............................................................................................37
5.8. Plenum with portals...................................................................................38
6. Selected topics on RTV usage.............................................................................40
6.1. Specifying transversal ventilation ............................................................40
6.2. Specifying wall properties .........................................................................41
6.3. Specifying ambient data ............................................................................44
7. Selected topics on IDA usage .............................................................................45
7.1. Creating tables for input time series ........................................................45

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation 3.0, Getting Started Guide  EQUA Simulation AB 2009-10

7.2. Binding variables to tables ........................................................................48

7.3. Recording (logging) output time series ....................................................50
7.4. Diagram properties....................................................................................52
7.5. Input time series from file (source file) ....................................................54
7.6. Working with the database .......................................................................56
7.7. Building a custom form .............................................................................57
8. Selected topics on physical modelling ................................................................60
8.1. Overview of pressure and flow .................................................................60
8.2. Traffic flow model......................................................................................63

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1. About this document
This document is a combined tutorial and reference manual for IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation
(IDA RTV). The beginner may follow the step-by-step tutorials and thereby learn the basics
of using the program for a few typical design problems. For the more advanced user, each
topic encountered in the tutorial part is elaborated on later on in this document, providing
deeper insight of the program functionality.

NOTE: Parts of the text that are not absolutely necessary for following the tutorial have been indented. Beginners in a
hurry may skip over these sections on a first reading.

Parts of the text that are not absolutely necessary for following the tutorial have
been indented. Beginners in a hurry may skip over these sections on a first
reading.

When following the tutorial sections 3 and 4, there are some key components that are not
previously covered – these components are presented in Section 5. Sections 6 and 7 are
devoted to step-by-step instructions on other typical operations. Finally, in Section 8, some
physical model issues are further explained.

This Getting Started Guide also serves as main on-line help for IDA RTV. When help is
requested from within a form of the program (by clicking a Help button or pressing F1 on the
keyboard), the appropriate topic in the guide is automatically displayed in the form of a PDF
document.

On-line help on general IDA topics (not relating specifically to RTV) is also available, but as
a standard Windows help file. A PDF version of these on-line help texts is available on the
User’s Homepage: Help > IDA on the Web > RTV User Support. Here, the user will also find
information about the latest version, known bugs, additional data files, and documentation
that is not part of the standard delivery.

Frequent references are made to the accompanying document IDA RTV Theoretical
Reference, where the underlying equations of the model are presented in full detail. The latest
version of this document may be downloaded from the User’s Homepage.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

2. Introduction
IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation (IDA RTV) focuses on key phenomena in road tunnel designs.
It is a subset of the more general tool IDA Tunnel, which in addition addresses the main
climate and safety issues in underground rail systems (except pressure transient discomfort).
IDA Tunnel also permits long-term studies using measured climatic data, including moisture,
and complex schedules. Both IDA RTV and IDA Tunnel are applications built with the
general IDA Simulation Environment (IDA SE), where a set of component models has been
developed to compute underground climate in tunnel systems. The component models have
been defined in the modeling language Modelica (www.modelica.org), and the complete set
of tunnel related Modelica models is included in the delivery. An advanced user may obtain
IDA SE to modify and add components to the available library.

Three add-in modules (extensions) are presently available for IDA RTV:

1. Feedback Control. A set of component models for design and evaluation of feedback
control systems.

2. 3D Tunnel Editor. A tool for 3D definition of underground tunnel systems with

interactive animation of traffic and computational results.

3. HIL (Hardware-In-the-Loop) Console. A tool for control system commissioning,

enabling design and testing of hardware based controllers (PLCs) with respect to a
simulated tunnel. The HIL Console can also be used for development of operator
training simulators.

2.1. Problems treated

IDA RTV handles air flows in road tunnels and the related problem of pollution
concentration due to emission from vehicles. Both hygienic and emergency fire ventilation
can be studied. The program handles both longitudinally and transversally ventilated tunnels,
with possibly bi-directional multi-lane traffic. A dynamic traffic model is available for
realistic study of traffic congestion and traffic-control scenarios.

Results from simulations include air pressures and temperatures, flow rates, and pollution
concentrations along the tunnel. Input data are tunnel geometry, including flow friction
factors and loss coefficients, plus traffic and emission data and air pressures at boundaries.

Fire ventilation
In fire simulations, the interest is focused on the possibility to prevent smoke from going
backwards and reaching the vehicles locked-in by the fire. In these calculations, it is essential
to calculate the temperature distribution along the tunnels, since it can generate major stack
effects and excessive temperatures may destroy jet fans, required for the fire ventilation. The
heat transfer between air and tunnel wall is modeled with convective and radiative heat
transfer and 1D discretization along the tunnel and into the tunnel wall. 3D flow phenomena
in the proximity of the fire are not explicitly modeled.

The time variation of the fire intensity is highly dependent on the type of fire. The model
allows the user to describe arbitrary fire growth curves.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Hygienic ventilation
In this case, focus is on the pollution concentrations generated by traffic emissions. Main
driving forces are normally traffic piston action, mechanical ventilation and wind. Stack
effects are normally quite small but may be significant for no-traffic periods.

Typically, a “snap shot” is made for one set of specified conditions. This is achieved by
making the calculation period short. Alternatively, a transient development may be studied,
e.g. a diurnal development due to variations in traffic volume and outdoor temperature.

The heating of tunnel air by traffic is modeled, but included traffic emission data does not
encompass heat emissions.

In the next section, we will give step-by-step instructions on the construction of a simple
hygienic ventilation case.

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3. Tutorial 1: Ventilating a simple tunnel

3.1. Starting a new calculation case (system form)

1. Create a new IDA document of RTV type using the Road Tunnel System template. This
should create a view similar to that in Figure 3.1, showing a system form.

Figure 3.1. An empty RTV system

We will start by building a simple tunnel with traffic in a single direction passing under a
river. When completed, the case should correspond to the available case

ida\samples\rtv\sample1.idm.

2. Drag two portals (entry/exit) and a section component with traffic from left to right into
the empty system, creating a schema similar to that in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2. A system with three components

3.2. Connecting two components

3. Position the cursor over the blue connection point on the left portal. The cursor should

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

then change its appearance to, , signifying availability of connection. Click, hold
and drag the connection line to the left hand connection point of the section component.
The cursor then once again signals availability of connection. Releasing the left button
over the target will complete the connection.

Once a connection line has been started, the left button can actually be released
without leaving the connection mode. Clicking will then position line breakpoints
along the connection route. To cancel the connection process, right click and select
Cancel.

The graphical appearance of the connection line can be edited without recreating the
logical connection between two component interfaces. Right click on the connection
line and select Edit. Breakpoints may be moved, added and removed. Clicking on a
breakpoint will remove it. Clicking on a line segment will add a new breakpoint. See
on-line help texts for a full account of editing possibilities (Search for ‘Edit’ first,
then ‘Line’).

To remove a logical connection between two components, select the connection by

clicking on the line. Then press Delete.

4. Complete the connection also between the right hand side of the section model and the
corresponding portal (exit). The schema should now look like Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3. The three components connected

5. The system, although not too exciting, is now formally ready for simulation. Verify this
by pressing the ‘Run’ button, , in the lower right corner of the system form. A quick
simulation should then be carried out without error messages, but since no traffic or other
driving forces have yet been added, the air in the tunnel should remain still.

3.3. Specifying vehicles (Vehicle data form)

6. Open the Vehicle data form (Figure 3.4) by pressing the button in the lower left corner of
the system form.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.4 The Vehicle form

By default three vehicle types are defined. In the form, their respective front areas
and drag factors are defined. The density of standing traffic of each vehicle type is
also defined here by specification of occupied road length.

The following expression is used for computation of piston effect:

ρ c DF AV
Pp = (vV − v t ) vV − vt
2 At (1 − AV / At ) 2

where

Pp = pressure rise due to vehicle piston effect [Pa]

ρ= air density [kg/m3]

cDF = drag coefficient of vehicle [-]

At = tunnel area [m2]

AV = vehicle cross section area [m2]

vV = vehicle velocity [m/s]

vt = tunnel air velocity [m/s]

The equations for vehicle drag are also presented in Section 2.1.2 of the RTV
Theoretical reference document.

7. A button is available to the far right for specification of emission data for each vehicle
category. Press this for the ‘passenger car’ to show the Emission table form shown in
Figure 3.5. Radio buttons are available for showing and editing CO2, NOx or Turbidity as
a function of vehicle speed and road steepness.

8. Press ‘load from file…’ to select the emission table vti-pb_b.emiss. This file only
contains NOx data.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.5 The Emission table form

9. Close the Emission table form for ‘passenger car’ and load similarly vti-lb7_14_a.emiss
and vti-lbs_a.emiss for ‘truck’ and ‘trailer’ respectively.

Emission tables are stored as text files with a rather self explanatory structure. By
pressing the ‘load combination’ button in the Emissions form, linear combinations of
several tables may be created and loaded. Such combinations (or hand edited tables)
may also be saved on disk by pressing the ‘save to file…’ button.

Back in the Vehicle form, a drop down list for Traffic model is also available. The
basics of the three traffic models are presented in a subform. The background of the
Congestion model is discussed in Section 8.1. Note that this is a model for realistic
traffic flow, which will automatically congest at high flows, and where drivers often
will exceed speed limits.

Buttons Copy and Paste are available for conveniently moving data to and from
Excel or tab separated text files. Slope and speed point data may be excluded in both
operations by unchecking the ‘including headers’ check box.

10. Enter parameters for the three traffic categories according to Figure 3.4.

11. Close the Vehicle form.

3.4. Editing components (Entry component)

12. Click on the left hand entry component to open the form of Figure 3.6. The air velocity is
seen to be very close to zero, as it should.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.6. A tunnel entry (portal) form

Component forms typically contain three tabs:

General The default form shown as the component is opened

containing an overview of variables and user input
parameters.

Outline An expandable tree where all elements of a component may

be accessed.

Code The Modelica code1 which is the formal description of the

model including its equations.

The form on the General tab typically has three main sections:

User input Input parameters. In the current example both for traffic
flows and for aerodynamic data of the tunnel itself.

Variables Selected results are presented here in terms of the value of

key variables, such as traffic and air flow.

Interfaces This describes the main logical connections to

neighbouring components.
1
Modelica is a language for description of Differential-algebraic equation models. See www.modelica.org for
further information. Users with access to IDA Simulation Environment may edit and add their own Modelica
components.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

neighbouring components.

13. Enter vehicle flows of 2000, 140 and 60 vehicles per hour for the three traffic categories.

The ‘Bind to…’ button that sometimes appears next to input fields allows the user to
bind the given quantity to a separate source, such as an input file, a given graphically
defined time series (a table), or to the output of a control component2. The procedure
of binding is further explained in Section 7.1.

Loss coefficients determine the viscous losses of entering or exiting air. The given
default values are valid for a sharp-edged portal. For a further explanation of
selection of pressure coefficients, see Section 8.1

The ‘congestion’ traffic model needs to know what the traffic is like after a vehicle
has passed through, i.e. if there is a traffic jam after the tunnel, the traffic inside the
tunnel will also be affected. Hence the density after the tunnel for exiting traffic can
be given. If this parameter is left unspecified, the density after the tunnel is assumed
to be the same as that at the end of the tunnel. Note that if ‘moving’ or ‘standing’
traffic has been specified in the Vehicle form, this parameter becomes irrelevant.

In the Variables section, selected results after the finish of the simulation are
presented. Both entering and exiting traffic flows are shown. For the ‘congestion’
model, actual flows are not always in accordance with those requested under User
input since the tunnel may be congested. In this case a queue will build outside of
the tunnel, the length of which is presented in the form. Similarly, for the
‘congestion’ model, traffic speed will not always correspond to specified speed
limits.

14. Press the simulation button again. After the run, entering traffic flows should be presented
according to those requested. (Always the case for ‘moving’ traffic model.) We haven’t
yet entered any traffic speed limit but apparently the traffic is by default travelling in 80
km/h and this creates an air flow in the direction of the traffic of almost 6 m/s.

15. Click on the Global tab of the system form, this will change the appearance in comparison
to Figure 2, showing inputs that affect the whole system (Figure 3.7).

16. Enter 70 km/h at the top of the form. This is a general speed limit that is valid unless
anything else is specified locally in tunnel sections.

Other parameters in the Global tab concern primarily fire modelling and we will
return to these in Section 4.2.

2
A separate add-in for IDA RTV allows the user to build feedback control systems using component such as PI
controllers, filters, state selectors etc. (See www.equa.se for more information).

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.7 The Global tab of the system form

3.5. Section component

17. Click on the section component to open the form (Figure 3.8).

The tunnel section is the most essential building block, representing an undivided
length of tunnel. Although possible, tunnel sections should normally not be
connected in series, since needed changes, e.g. area changes, along the tunnel can be
accommodated within a single tunnel section.

Figure 3.8. A tunnel section form

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

18. Set maximum discretisation grid size (dxMax) equal to 100.

The maximum discretisation grid size (maximum segment length) is mainly used for
resolving temperature variations along the tunnel. In fire simulation cases a more
sophisticated grid refinement is used where the grid is fine close to the fire and
gradually coarser away from it.

The friction factor for the tunnel wall is given in the section form. See Section 2.1.2
of the Theoretical Reference for a more detailed account of tunnel aerodynamics.

19. Click on the ‘Edit segments’ button (Figure 3.9).

Figure 3.9. Edit segments dialog of tunnel section

20. Under the heading ‘Points’ click on the first row where the left end of the section is
defined. Fill in cross section area, hydraulic diameter and number of lanes according to
Figure 3.9.

In the ‘Edit segments’ dialog (Figure 3.9) details along the section are described;
cross section area, area changes and single losses, profile (vertical position), traffic
speed zones and red lights, equipment (thermal loads), jet fans, transversal
ventilation ducts, sensors and fire. Some of these (e.g. positions of area changes,
fans and fire) also affect the division of the section into segments.

A sequence of objects is presented in a list; each object describes one particular

feature. A length coordinate along the tunnel is used to localize the features. The
coordinate system is in fact local to the component, but it is good practice to use a

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

common origin for concatenated tunnel sections. The coordinate system may be
shifted by using functions Shift and Flip under the More… button.

Each new object added will create a new line in the list. IDA RTV will keep the list
of objects sorted on location. The first and last objects have fixed types; their
location and other parameters can be modified, but the objects can not be removed.
All new objects must be given coordinates between the beginning and the end of the
section.

When a new object is added, the default parameter values are fetched from the
currently selected line as far as possible, otherwise left blank.

Properties of the surrounding bedrock (wall) are also specified here (see also Section
6.2). It is described in terms of material layers with thickness and thermal properties,
which can be selected from a predefined library or defined by the user.

The Area change object is used to specify changes in construction and area along a
tunnel section. Changed properties prevail (from left to right) until a new Area
change object is encountered (or the tunnel section ends). The area change object
may also be used to specify single pressure losses. See also Section 8.1 for a
discussion about loss coefficients.

In sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.2.1 of the Theoretical Reference the mathematical
models for air flow and heat transport are presented.

21. Click the Add button and then select Profile point. Enter the position 650 and the height
-20. Repeat for two more profile points, position 750 and the height –21 and position 850
and height –20.

22. Select the last row under Points. Change the length of the tunnel by entering 1500 as
position and the height of the right portal by entering 2.3 as height.

23. Close the dialog with OK.

3.6. Specifying path reports

24. Define a path by pressing the Shift key while clicking first on the left portal and then on
the right portal (clicking on section component not necessary due to uniqueness of path).

The direction of the path is given by the order the components are marked.

25. Then press the ‘Add path report’ button, , in the lower right corner of the
system form and the dialog for selecting result items to record appears (Figure 3.10).

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.10. The path report item dialog

The result items chosen will be saved as time series for positions along the path and
can be viewed as functions of position and time.

26. Select Tunnel height coordinate and Object positions in addition to any variables you
might be interested in, by moving selected and items with the arrow buttons and, when
you are done, press the ‘Create’ button.

At the top of the system form under heading ‘Results:’ a path report with name
PATH-REPORT now appears.

3.7. Specifying simulation data

27. Press the ‘Simulation data’ button at the bottom of the system form to get access to the
Simulation data dialog with three tabs, Calculation, Advanced and Options (Figure 3.11).

Figure 3.11. The Simulation data/Calculation tab

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

The From and To input fields delimit the start and end-time of the simulation. For the tutorial,
no changes are needed. We will simulate the tunnel for one hour.

In the field ‘Output step’ a time increment between saving of results may be given.
The value 0.0 means that results are saved in every time step taken by IDA Solver.
(The solver uses automatic step size control to keep the local truncation error per
step smaller than a user given tolerance (see below)). Most RTV simulations are
rather short and unless disk space is scarce there is no need to limit the time
resolution of output results. Specifying an Output step will result in generated time
series with equal distance between samples, which sometimes may help
postprocessing in external programs.

Periodic integration means a sequence of dynamic integrations over the same time
range where the end results of an integration are used as initial values of the next
integration. This is repeated until the difference between the norms of the initial
values and the end values is small enough (see below). This type of simulation is
seldom used in RTV.

Figure 3.12. The Simulation/Advanced tab

28. Click on the Advanced tab (Figure 3.12).

In the Advanced tab (Figure 3.12) some important parameters used in the numerical
methods of the solver are made accessible. The default values are set based on
experience from simulation of realistic tunnel systems. ‘Tolerance’ is used for the
stepsize control, minimal time step is smallest step allowed in the solver (not
recommended to use and therefore disabled) and maximal time step is the biggest
time step allowed. A periodic integration, as mentioned above, is interrupted when
the number of integrations reaches ‘Maximum number of periods’ or if the
difference of the norms of initial and end values is smaller than ‘Tolerance for
periodicity’.

Generally, relaxing the Tolerance parameter will result in longer timesteps, less
accurate equation solution and therefore a faster simulation. However, with a too
loose tolerance, the solver will often fail or almost fail and waste a lot of time trying
to recover. With simulations that show numerical instabilities, it is often beneficial
to decrease the tolerance parameter.

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When taking long steps, it can sometimes happen that the solver steps over features
in driving functions and thereby misses their impact on the simulated system
altogether. Limiting the Maximal timestep is a remedy for this. If the risk of missing
such features does not exist (perhaps there are no input time series) one can safely
let the solver take very long steps.

Further information about the numerical solver and its tuning parameters is available
on the user’s homepage, which is best launched from the Help menu, IDA on the
Web, RTV User Support.

In the option tab, the user is allowed to specify additional numerical control
parameters that are supported by IDA Solver. These are not normally needed in IDA
RTV.

29. Close the Simulation data dialog by pressing Cancel. (We haven’t changed anything.)

30. Perform a simulation pressing the ‘Run’ button, , in the lower right corner of the
system form.

31. Open the section form to make sure your computed results match those of Figure 3.13.

Figure 3.13. The section form displaying maximum concentrations

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32. Open also the PATH-REPORT to make sure the tunnel height coordinate matches that of
Figure 3.14.

Figure 3.14 The path report form

If you have selected other variables in the path report, their state after the simulation
will also be displayed. Pressing the 3D tab will allow you to inspect time-varying
quantities as a function of path length and time. Navigation in the 3D window is
further explained in Section 4.3.

3.8. Continuing Tutorial 1: fans and standing traffic

In the moving traffic case, our sample river-passing tunnel seems to be self-ventilating. In the
next part of Tutorial 1, we will look at a case with standing traffic and add some jet fans to
get a reasonable air quality.

The reader who wants to jump into the tutorial here, should start from the case

ida\samples\rtv\sample1.idm.

We will continue to work on this here, eventually ending up with the installed sample case

ida\samples\rtv\sample1_Standing.idm.

33. Open the Vehicle data form again and select Standing traffic in the input field for Traffic
model.

This will introduce a full traffic stop in each tunnel exit, effectively filling the tunnel
with idling vehicles as the traffic fills the tunnel (which will take some time). The
density of vehicles is given by the Road length per standing vehicle parameter.

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Distribution between vehicle types is given by their respective flows, which is

specified at each tunnel entry.

3.9. Jet fan parameters

34. Open the section model and press ‘Edit segments’ to add jet fans.

35. Press Add and select Fan(s). Enter fan group data according to Figure 3.15.

Figure 3.15 Edit segments dialog with jet fan selected

Fans are specified in groups, where parameters and controls are assumed to be
identical for all individual fans in the group.

The thrust from each fan is given by

Ff = Pf·At = ρAfvf(vf – vt)kf [N]

where

Pf = pressure rise due to fan action [Pa]

At = tunnel area [m2]

ρ = air density [kg/m3]

Af = fan cross section area [m2]

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vf = fan discharge velocity [m/s]

vt = tunnel air velocity in the direction of fan action [m/s]

kf = pressure rise coefficient [-]

Af, kf and vf are given by the user as input in the dialog. The pressure rise coefficient,
kf , which is sometimes called installation factor or momentum exchange efficiency,
accounts for various momentum losses due to wall friction, interaction between jets,
fan physical configuration etc.

The Fan on checkbox provides a simple way of turning off a fan group, without
removing it.

The Total performance parameter, determines the fan power consumption

Each fan group that is introduced into a tunnel section, gives rise to a control signal
port into the tunnel. (Control signals are available in the port of the section
component.) A control signal may be connected to, e.g., a source object such as a
table or an external file or - if the feedback control add-in has been installed - to a
feedback control system.

Should the fan be controlled by an external signal, the External control field
becomes important. By default, fan thrust is proportional to the control signal, but
here it is also possible to let the fan speed be the controlled quantity.

The Starting time constant determines how fast the fan speed develops in a case
where fans are controlled.

See Section 2.1.1 of the Theoretical Reference for a thorough account of the jet fan
model.

36. Add identical fan groups at 600, 900 and 1200 m into the tunnel.

37. Run a simulation.

38. Open the section model to verify that your results match those in Figure 3.16. Note also
that the traffic is standing still.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 3.16 The section component form showing some results

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4. Tutorial 2: Fire in the tunnel

In the next study a 100 MW fire will be added to our sample river-passing tunnel.

The tutorial starts from the installed sample case:

ida\samples\rtv\sample1_Standing.idm.

We will continue to work on this here, eventually ending up with the installed sample case

ida\samples\rtv\sample1_Fire.idm.

4.1. Adding a fire to a tunnel section

39. Open the section model and press ‘Edit segments’ to add a fire.

40. Press Add and select Fire. Enter data according to Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1 Edit segments dialog with fire selected

The basic fire evacuation strategy in a longitudinally ventilated tunnel is often to keep the
tunnel free of smoke upstream of the fire by using jet fans, which blow the smoke in the
direction of the traffic. Cars downstream of the fire are assumed to be able to drive out of the
tunnel ahead of the smoke front. The fire position has in the example been selected to provide
a worst case in terms of thermal stack effect. If a fire is placed even closer to the entry portal

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of the downhill part, it would provide a stronger stack effect, but in such a case passengers
should even without fans be able to evacuate “under” the smoke layer.

The 1D fire model is capable of describing the overall effects of the fire to an
accuracy which is acceptable for typical fire security studies in road tunnels.
However, the effects of the fire in the near field are not described in detail. The
Length parameter should reflect the size of the near field around the fire.

Heat from fire (or heat release rate) is the basic parameter, describing the size of the
fire, including both radiated and convected heat. It may be given as a function of
time by connecting it to an input table, see Section 7.1. If no table is specified, the
fire will grow very quickly, by default in 10 s from the start of the simulation.

A tunnel fire will result in a so called throttling effect, i.e. the fire plume will act as
an obstacle to flow over the fire region. This effect is difficult to estimate in a 1D
model and a parameter Fire pressure drop is required as input to account for this
pressure drop. It has a reasonable default value but in some situations, where a
conservative estimate is unavailable, more detailed studies must be performed to
estimate this effect.

By default, the fire power is limited by available oxygen, i.e. if the air flow through
the tunnel is insufficient for maintaining a fire of the specified size, the heat release
rate is reduced accordingly.

If the air (momentarily) is standing still, the heat release rate is further reduced (by
default by 90%) for reasons of numerical stability. In very rare cases, a solution will
be found with air flow very close to zero and a reduced fire power. The 1D model is
not valid for flow so close to zero and any such solution should be discarded.

Further fire related parameters, that govern smoke production etc. are specified in
the Global tab of the system form. We will return to these in the next section.

A more formal description of the fire model is available in Section 2.2.6 of the
Theoretical Reference.

41. Close the Edit segments dialog by pressing OK.

4.2. Specifying global data

42. Click on the Global tab of the system form. Inputs that affect the whole system are
shown (Figure 4.2)

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 4.2. The Global tab of the system form

The Vmax parameter governs the general speed limit in all tunnels. It is overridden
by any local speed limit prescribed in the Edit segments dialog of a tunnel segment.

TWall0 is the starting temperature of the wall at the beginning of the simulation.

NOx2NO2 is the fraction of NOx which is regarded to turn into NO2.

In the Default wall field, a wall construction is selected. See Section 6.2 for the way
new wall construction objects are defined. Local selection of wall construction can
be done in the Edit segments dialog.

The parameters under ‘Wall spatial discretization’ affect the way the wall is divided
into suitable computational layers; tauWall together with thermal material properties
set the depth of the radial domain so that relative temperature changes at that depth
caused by any variation at the wall surface are negligible within the time interval
tauWall. tauWall should thus normally be approximately equal to the simulation
time range. The parameter nWallNod sets the number of nodes into the wall and the
grid expansion factor GridFac is used to refine the grid close to the wall surface,
where the biggest temperature gradients appear.

For a more thorough discussion of wall temperature computation see Section 2.2.4 in
the Theoretical Reference.

Further details of the fire model may be specified in the Fire model section of the
Global form. See also Sections 2.2.6 and 2.3.3 of the Theoretical Reference.

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H, K, kic and Ys relates the amount and optical density of produced smoke to the
heat release rate. In situations where the amount of smoke produced is relevant to
the design task, these parameters will normally be provided by fire experts.

The fire2air parameter determines the amount of fire heat that acts to directly heat
the tunnel air, i.e. (1 - fire2air) will radiate from the flame to the surrounding tunnel
wall. This seemingly critical empirical parameter is often assumed to be around
70%. Fortunately, it turns out that results in the far field are not as sensitive to this
input as one could expect, since radiated heat will heat the wall which then, in turn,
will heat the air by convection.

Accurate computation of the air temperature, and thereby density, downstream of the
fire is naturally critical to predict the stack effect. Care must therefore be taken to
resolve the exponentially decaying temperature. For this purpose, an automatic
refinement of the grid around the fire is provided. (Another possibility to refine the
grid ‘manually’ is provided by the dxMax parameter in the section form.)

The parameters dxFire0, dxFireFactor and dxFireExtent control the automatic grid
refinement around a fire. dxFire0 gives the cell size next to the fire cell, where the
gradient is steepest. dxFireFactor determines how much larger the next cell is and
dxFireExtent specifies the total extent in all directions that should get a refined grid.

The grid refinement algorithm will refine the grid in all directions around a fire, i.e.
it has no notion of the direction fire gases will take or the distance it will take for
gases to cool. When a branch or plenum component is encountered in a possible air
path, the refinement will continue in all connecting branches.

It is always good practice to successively refine the grid until there is no change in
key computational results. However, many fire studies will not be critical with
respect to processing power, in which case one can use a (safely) fine grid.

43. Set tauWall to 1 hour, to reflect our choice of simulation time and duration of fire
scenario.

44. Open the Vehicles data form (Figure 3.4). Select Congestion model.

With the congestion model, traffic will fill the tunnel and form a queue leading up to
the fire site.

In our sample case, for simplicity, the fire starts at the start of the simulation, and
since the tunnel initially is empty from traffic, there will be no cars downstream of
the fire. They all stop at the fire.

In a more realistic case, the fire start should be delayed until the tunnel has been
filled with traffic. This would capture the ventilating effect of the traffic driving out
of the tunnel ahead of the smoke. However, for a conservative design case, this
possible extra ventilation should probably be disregarded.

45. Open the existing Path report object and select the following additional variables by
pressing the Add/Remove variables button: Radiative heat x-fer coeff, Convective heat x-
fer coeff, Air temperature, Wall temperature, Extinction coefficient.

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46. Make a simulation pressing the ‘Run’ button, .

47. Open the section form and examine the resulting air velocity in the tunnel. Compare with
the presented critical velocity. Are we OK? Open the form for More details in the Traffic
section of the form. Does the traffic configuration after the simulation look as would be
expected?

No, as can be seen in the last column of the Data for segments section, the air velocity
upstream of the fire is less than 1 m/s while the estimated critical velocity is about 3 m/s. We
need to add more fan power.

Critical velocity is an estimate of the upstream air velocity that is required to avoid
so called back-layering of smoke, i.e. that smoke propagates against the prevalent air
flow direction.

The traffic density is about 110 pcu/km upstream of the fire and close to zero downstream, so
the traffic seems OK.

48. Open the Edit segments dialog in the section model form. Select (click on) the fan row at
300 m under Points. Press the Add button and select Fan(s). A duplicate fan group is
created at 300 m. Edit the Position of the new fan group to 450 m. Create two additional
identical new fan groups at 750 and 1050 m in the same way.

49. Make a simulation pressing the ‘Run’ button, .

50. Open the section form and verify that the current fan power is sufficient to maintain a
velocity above the critical. (We would actually be OK with just two additional fan
groups.)

In the next couple of section we will look a bit closer at the obtained solution.

4.3. Viewing and printing path reports

51. Double click on the path report with name PATH-REPORT at the top of the system form
under heading ‘Results:’ to open the path report form Figure 3.14.

52. Click on the 3D Tab and select e.g. wall temperature by double clicking to view the wall
temperature as a 3D coloured surface as a function of position along path and time
(Figure 4.3).

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Figure 4.3. 3D coloured surface plot of wall surface temperature

53. Examine also the other recorded variables.

The surface plot can be rotated (click, hold and move cursor within plot) and
zoomed in/out (right click, hold and move cursor within plot).

Results can also be shown as graphs along cuts parallel to the x-, y- or z-axis of the
3D surface plot. Press the x-, y- or z-key, click with cursor within shaded cut
surface, hold and drag until desired time or position is reached.

See also the separate on-line help instructions for the 3D window by pressing the
Help button.

Printing path reports and other 3D diagrams can be done by selecting Print from the
File menu. This will write a tiff file and open the default Windows’ viewer. From
here one can print to paper. By default, the generated tiff file is magnified three
times with respect to the screen resolution. If one holds the Shift key while selecting
Print, one is allowed to enter any magnification factor.

Any IDA form (including 2D diagrams) can, in fact, be printed from the File menu.

Note that the wall temperature is significantly higher in the fire segment. Some
experiments will reveal that this maximum temperature is quite sensitive to both the
empirical fire2air parameter (Global tab of system form) and to the chosen size of
the fire segment (Length parameter in Fire description in Edit Segments dialog).

The computed wall temperature in the near field around the fire is in fact not a
reliable result in the 1D model and may even exceed physically possible
temperatures (higher than any reasonable flame temperature). Fortunately, the

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computed air velocity in the tunnel is rather insensitive to changes in these

parameters.

In the next two sections we will learn how to locate and examine individual variables in the
model in order to understand more. The reader who is less interested in the underlying
equation model may want to conclude the tutorial here.

Open also the other sample models that are installed with IDA RTV to see examples of
slightly more complex systems.

4.4. Viewing 2D fields

Let us look at the computed temperature field into the wall surrounding the tunnel at the end
of the simulation.

54. Open the section component by double clicking on it. To get access to the computed
temperature field into the wall click on the ‘Outline’ tab. Display variables computed in
segments by clicking on ‘seg’ and place the cursor on TGroundr. Right click and select
‘Open with Plot3D ’ to present a 3D surface plot of the temperature field into the tunnel
wall.

Figure 4.4. 3D coloured surface plot of wall temperature

The temperature field is computed relative Twall0, which here is the initial wall
temperature. The x-axis runs along the tunnel section from left to right. Note that the
scale of the y-axis is in grid points (1 to 5), not in distance into wall, which makes
the spatial variation incorrect since the grid size increases into the wall.

As mentioned above, results can be shown as graphs along cuts parallel to the x- or
y- axis of the 3D surface plot. Press the x- or y-key, click with cursor within shaded
cut surface, hold and drag until desired position is reached.

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This concludes the tutorial part of the Getting Started Guide.

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5. Additional RTV components

5.1. Tunnel branch

Figure 5.1. A branch form

The mathematical model for the air flow in the branching component is valid for a wye
consisting of a straight uniform section with a connected branch, with a possibly different
cross section area. For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.8 of the
Theoretical Reference.

The input parameter φ is the angle between branch, location 3, and location 1 of the straight
section. The empirical model is derived for angles in the interval [45˚, 135˚].

The parameter r/D is the ratio of the radius of the rounding of the edge where branch meets
main section and the main diameter.

Any traffic flow cases occurring in a branch depend on the traffic directions (left to right,
right to left, bidirectional or no traffic) allowed in the surrounding sections.

The situation when the traffic flow is split is described in terms of a main stream, not
necessarily along the straight section of the branch, and an exit fraction (for each vehicle type
and possibly time dependent) of exiting traffic. The exiting traffic stream is modelled with a
queue model in the same way as at the tunnel entry. Possible queues of exiting traffic do not
affect the main stream.

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The situation when two traffic streams are joined into one stream is modelled such that the
smallest of the incoming traffic flows reduces the capacity of the outgoing stream. This is a
symmetric model as opposed to the splitting model.

The traffic models are described in Section 8.1.

5.2. Damper

Figure 5.2. A damper form

At fully open position, flow through the damper is governed by a loss coefficient (kLoss) and
at closed by an Equivalent Leakage Area (ela). The parameter tArea is the tunnel area and
has to be equal to the tunnel area of the neighbouring components (area changes not allowed
at connection points between components). See also Section 8.1 for a discussion of pressure
losses.

tau is the time constant for opening/closing the damper.

The parameter hFloor has to be given if neighbouring components have no specification of

floor level. However if e.g. tunnel sections are neighbours of the damper their floor level
towards the damper have to be the same and hFloor isn’t needed.

The opening and closing of the damper can be bound to a separate source, such as an input
file, a given graphically defined time series (a table), or to the output of a control component.

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.12 of the Theoretical Reference.

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5.3. Axial fan

Figure 5.3. An axial fan form

Axial fans are used to create physically realistic ventilation systems. The downside is that a
realistic fan curve has to be specified. Alternative components for moving air, in early stages
of a project, are the Given flow and Simplified air injection or extraction components.

For the Axial fan, the fan curve, pressure difference as a function of volume air flow, is given
as a spline. Note that the end points on the curve should be given outside the interval of
operation to avoid numerically problematic boundary effects. The fan efficiency is similarly
given as a spline.

The parameter tArea is the tunnel area and has to be equal to the tunnel area of the
neighbouring components (area changes not allowed at connection points between
components).

The parameter hFloor has to be given if neighbouring components have no specification of

floor level. However if e.g. tunnel sections are neighbours of the axial fan their floor level
towards the damper have to be the same and hFloor isn’t needed.

The inertia (start up time) of the fan is governed by a time constant tau.

The action of the fan, speedRel (quotient fan speed to nominal fan speed) can be bound to a
separate source, such as the output of a control component, varying between –1 and 1, where
negative values indicate reverse action.

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.13 of the Theoretical
Reference.

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5.4. Given flow (independent of pressure)

Figure 5.4. A given flow component form

In order to get a certain flow through a tunnel without having to select a suitable fan curve,
the given flow component may be used. It will deliver a constant flow under all conditions,
irrespective of pressure and will thus not behave as a physically realistic fan with feedback
flow control (that would have a limited pressure head). Use this model with caution, as it may
easily lead to unphysical situations. One can for example not connect two Given flow
components in series.

The wanted air volume flow is given as parameter VFNom and control signal cntr, which can
be bound to a separate source. The fan efficiency is specified with parameter effic.

The parameter tArea is the tunnel area and has to be equal to the tunnel area of the
neighbouring components (area changes not allowed at connection points between
components).

The parameter hFloor has to be given if neighbouring components have no specification of

floor level. However if e.g. tunnel sections are neighbours of the damper their floor level
towards the damper have to be the same and hFloor isn’t needed.

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.11 of the Theoretical Reference.

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5.5. Simplified air injection or extraction point (FanDuct)

Figure 5.5. An air supply/exhaust form

The model consists of a fan with an optional damper mounted in an undivided branch of
ductwork. The fan-damper-duct assembly connects ambient air with the tunnel via an
integrated branch component. The action of the fan, supply or exhaust, is defined by the
parameter Fandir.

The parameter Damper (open or closed) determines the state of the damper when the fan is
off (fanCntr = 0).

∆P

hamb duc
t

tunnel tArea
htun

reference level

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

The pressure-flow behaviour for the fan-damper-duct part is defined in the following way. At
no external pressure difference and fanCntr = 1, the given flow VFNom is obtained. When
fanCntr = 0 and Damper = Open, air will flow according to external pressure difference
(including stack effect) with a system characteristic through the point pHead and VFNom.
When fanCntr = 0 and Damper = Closed, there is no air flow.

The input parameter Fi is the angle between branch, location 3, and location 1 of the straight
section. The parameter r is the ratio of the radius of the rounding of the edge where branch
meets main section and the branch diameter. (See Branch component for a figure of Fi and r.)

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.9 of the Theoretical Reference.

5.6. Saccardo nozzle

Figure 5.6. A Saccardo nozzle form

Saccardo nozzles may be used to drive a large flow through a tunnel by injection of a small
amount of air at high speed. The equations are not valid for a case where the air reverses
direction, and exits out of the nozzle.

The input parameter Fi is the angle between the nozzle, location 3, and location 1 of the
tunnel section.

Kmx is the momentum exchange coefficient. This governs how much of the jet momentum
that is useful for driving tunnel air.

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.14 of the Theoretical Reference.

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5.7. Recirculation

Figure 5.7. An air recirculation form

This model takes care of the situation where two tunnel entries are so close that air flowing
out of one tunnel can recirculate into the other. The model has two parameters (part1_2 and
part2_1) specifying the maximum percentage flowing from each entry to the other.

For a thorough description of the equations see section 2.1.7 of the Theoretical Reference.

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5.8. Plenum with portals

Figure 5.8 A plenum form

Air in a plenum is assumed to be well mixed, so conditions are mainly described by scalar
variables, e.g. air temperature, pressure, wall temperature and air fractions. The plenum
component does not allow traffic through it and is predominantly used as a pressure chamber
for parallel fans.

Note that the z-coordinate (height) at the neighbouring end of the tunnel sections/ventilation
shafts sections has to fall between floor level (hFloor) and floor level plus height of plenum.

The surrounding wall is specified in the same way as in the section model. See Section 6.2.

In sections 2.1.4 and 2.2.3 of the Theoretical Reference the mathematical models for mass
and heat balance are presented.

The connection of the plenum to tunnel sections should be done via portal components (by
default sharp-edged). This is already prepared in the Side bar component library. To copy a
plenum with two portals from the Side bar place the cursor e.g. above and left of the left
portal, click, hold and drag the cursor diagonally down to the right and below the right portal
and release the left button when the dashed frame encloses the set of components. Then drag
the components into the system form. (Pre-connected groups of components may always be
dragged between open systems without severing internal connections.)

When more than two tunnel sections are connected to a plenum extra portals are needed.
When connecting the extra portal between the plenum and the tunnel section the Connect
dialog Figure 5.9 is shown.

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Figure 5.9. The connect dialog

To confirm that the opening interface of the portal is to be connected to tunnel interface 3 of
the plenum press the OK button.

Figure 5.10. A portal form

Loss coefficients determine the viscous losses of entering or exiting air. The given default
values are valid for a sharp-edged portal

In section 2.1.4 of the Theoretical Reference the mathematical model for air flow is
presented.

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6. Selected topics on RTV usage

In this section some important operations for using RTV are explained.

6.1. Specifying transversal ventilation

Long tunnels with bidirectional traffic may be ventilated by separate, continuous supply and
exhaust ducts. In IDA RTV, stretches of road sections can be supplied with transversal
ventilation (supply or exhaust). These stretches may overlap.

Defining location of transversal ventilation is done as follows (Figure 6.1).

Open the section model and press ‘Edit segments’.

Press Add and select Transversal duct.

Give (left) position and length.

Figure 6.1 Edit segments dialog with Transversal duct selected

By default, air flow through the duct is given, independent of pressure, as specified in the
Edit segments dialog. In this case, ambient values of temperature, turbidity, CO and NO2 as
defined in (Section 6.3) are used as boundary values. If the check box ‘The volume flow is
given here’ is unchecked, the transversal duct must be connected to some other component
outside of the section model. Connecting the ventilation duct (shown as a square at the
bottom of the tunnel section component) is done in a Connect dialog similar to that of Figure
5.9.

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To summarize, air flow in a transversal ventilation duct can be generated in three different
ways.

1. Explicitly given air volume flow is achieved by checking ‘The volume flow is given
here’ and then either specifying a constant value or binding to a function of time by
connecting it to an input table, see Section 7.1.

2. ‘The volume flow is given here’ is unchecked. The external interface of the
transversal duct is connected to an external given flow component. This could either
be the library ‘Given flow’ component or another transversal duct of a neighbouring
section model in which the ‘The volume flow is given here’ has been checked.

3. ‘The volume flow is given here’ is unchecked. The external interface of the
transversal duct is connected to an external component combination and flow is
determined by actual pressure difference. In this case, the total pressure drop of the
supply duct and its dampers should be specified in the external system, i.e. the
transversal duct itself does not have any resistance to pressure nor does it have any
volume.

6.2. Specifying wall properties

The user can define one or more wall types with different thermal properties and use these
wall types in tunnel sections and plenums. The default wall type is used if no other explicit
wall type is selected. A wall type consists of a list of material layers and corresponding
thicknesses.

To set the default wall type,

Switch to "Global" tab.

In the "Wall" field, select a wall type to be used as default.

Figure 6.2 Selecting default wall type

To choose wall type for a plenum,

Double click on a plenum on the schema to open the plenum form;

In the "Wall" field, select either the default wall type (marked as "[default]") or a
specific wall type.

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IDA Road Tunnel Ventilation, version 3.0: Getting Started Guide

Figure 6.3 Selecting wall type for a plenum

A tunnel section may have segments with different wall properties along the tunnel.
To choose wall type for a segment in tunnel section,

Double click on the section on the schema to open the section form;

Click "Edit segments" button to open the tunnel section dialog;

In the list at the top of dialog, select either the tunnel entry (the first row) or an "area
change" point at the beginning of the required segment (if there is no "area change"
point at desired position, add one);

In the "Tunnel wall" field, select the desired wall type;

Press "Ok" button to confirm the changes.

Figure 6.4 Selecting wall type for a segment in tunnel section

To edit a wall type,

Switch to "Global" tab;

In "Resources" list, find the desired wall type and double click to open the wall
definition dialog.

Figure 6.5 Select wall type for editing

Define the properties of wall layers (material and thickness). A wall may consist of
one or more layers. Use buttons "Add", "Delete", "Promote", and "Demote" to
arrange the layers. The properties of the selected layer are shown at the right part of
the dialog. Choose the material and set the wall thickness for every layer. The
thickness of the last layer is ignored (it is regarded as infinite).

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Figure 6.6 Wall definition dialog

To edit the thermodynamical properties of a layer's material, click in the button at the right
of "Material" field and select "Open" from menu. In the Material dialog, change the
properties (heat conductivity, density, and specific heat) and click "Ok" (or "Save as" to keep
both the old and the new material). Note that the materials are defined globally and a change
of material properties affect all wall types that use this material.

End editing wall properties by pressing the "Ok" button (or "Save as" to keep both the old
and the new wall type).

Figure 6.7 Material dialog

It is also possible to edit materials directly, without opening the wall definition dialog. To do
this, double click on the desired material in the "Resources" list on the "Global" tab.

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To define a new wall type,

Edit the properties of an existing wall type as described above, but at the end press
"Save as" button instead of "Ok".

In the "Create new resource" dialog select a name for the new wall type and click
"Ok" button.

To remove an unused wall type or a material,

Switch to "Global" tab;

In "Resources" list, select the desired wall type or material and press the "Delete"
button on the keyboard (alternatively, right click it and select "Delete" from the
menu).

See also Section 7.6. Working with database.

6.3. Specifying ambient data

To set ambient air properties press the ‘Ambient’ button at the bottom of the system form
(Figure 6.8).

Figure 6.8. The ambient air properties form

Ambient temperature and reference pressure as well as the air quality measures turbidity,
carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are specified here.

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7. Selected topics on IDA usage

In this section, some general IDA operations that are commonly needed by the RTV user are
explained. Other general IDA functions are treated in the on-line help (See the Help menu,
Contents.) A pdf version of these texts is available on the User’s homepage: Help menu, IDA
on the Web, RTV user support.

7.1. Creating tables for input time series

Tables are used to create user-defined input time-series to use as control signals or other
driving functions for things such as fire heat release rate or traffic flow. Tables are saved with
the system they have been defined in. Another alternative is to reference time-series files, so
called source files. This procedure is explained in Section 7.5.

To define a new table, select library ‘Other’ by clicking on Other in the Side bar.

Position the cursor on the TABLE object and drag to the system form.

Open the table object by double clicking on it and the diagram tab (Figure 7.1) appears.

Figure 7.1 Table diagram

Initially, the table contains a single variable with name "var1" and zero value. The time and
value extent of the table can be altered by accessing the property dialog, by right clicking and
selecting Properties or by the shortcut in the lower right corner of the form.

There are three ways of defining the time series.

1. Graphically.

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Double click on the graph, position the cursor on the graph at a specific time, click, hold
and drag up or down, release. Continue this procedure until the wanted shape is achieved.
Clicking on an already defined break point will remove it. Right click and select done to
finish.

Figure 7.2 Editing a diagram

2. Numerically

Clicking on the Data button will make the Table editor (Figure 7.3) available. Fill the
table with pairs, time and variable value, and finish by clicking on the OK button. The
time series is then shown as a graph.

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Figure 7.3 Table editor

3. As text

Switch to Text tab and type the time and values of all variables as columns separated by
blank characters (in the same format as in source files, see Section 7.5). It is also possible
to copy data from and to Notepad or other text editors.

Figure 7.4 Table as text

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To define a discontinuity in a time series, the same time coordinate is entered twice, with a
‘before’ value and an ‘after’ value of the variable.

To add another variable to the same table, click on button Add and give it a name. A graph of
the variable over the whole specified simulation interval is shown (default value zero).

7.2. Binding variables to tables

To bind a table time series to a variable (except control signals that are described below) in
the system model proceed as follows.

Double click on the component containing the variable to be connected.

If the variable appears with a ‘Bind to…’ button in the General tab form then

click on the ‘Bind to…’ button

else

click on the Outline tab and find the variable in the list,

right click on the variable and select ‘Binding…’.

The form for connecting a variable appears (Figure 7.5).

Figure 7.5 Binding a variable to a table

Mark ‘connect to a variable of …’ and click on the system model name below. Then a list of
objects (components etc.) of the system model appears in the window to the right. Find the
table and click on it to exhibit the variables defined in it. Select the appropriate variable and
press the ‘Connect’ button to complete the binding.

A different procedure is used for control signals (fan controls in tunnel sections, air
supply/exhaust, and axial fan model; opening control in damper model; flow control in given

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flow model). This is because the control signals are designed for connecting with components
from the control library.

The connection between a control signal and a table is established in the same way as
connections between components, using connection lines. The tables contain an interface
"int1" that references the variable "var1" and may be connected to control interfaces in
models.

In some cases it may also be practical to have several variables in the same table
object. To connect a control signal to such a variable, a new interface object has to
be defined for the table. To do this, connect a control signal with the table with a
connection line. In the Connect dialog (Figure 7.6), type in the interface name
(“int2” in the example) and click the OK button

Figure 7.6 Connecting a control signal to a table

In the Define interface dialog (Figure 7.7) select the variable(s) that should be
included in the new interface. The left pane lists the variables included in the
model's interface (control interfaces consists of one variable only). The right pane
lists all variables in the table.

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Figure 7.7 Define interface dialog

To connect a variable in the model with an existing variable in the table, select the
desired variable and click "Connect selected".

To connect a variable in the model with a new variable in the table, select the
variable in the model and click "Connect to new" and than select a name for new
variable.

After connecting all variables in the interface, click the OK button. The interface is
defined and connected.

7.3. Recording (logging) output time series

The time-evolution of any variable may be recorded during the simulation. This is the way it
is done:

Select library ‘Other’ by clicking on Other in the Side bar.

Position the cursor on the OUTPUT-FILE object and drag to the system form.

At the top of the system form under heading ‘Results:’ an output file with name Result now
appears.

By default there is always a single predefined output file (with name RESULTS). If
many time series are to be recorded on different output files it might be convenient
to rename the files. To do this right click on the file name and select ‘Rename …’
from the list of options, write the new name and press OK.

To select variables to be recorded proceed as follows.

Double click on the component containing the variable to be recorded.

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If the variable appears in General tab form then

double click on the pane with variable value

else

click on the Outline tab and find the variable in the list, then

double click on the variable.

The variable form appears (Figure 7.8).

Figure 7.8 Form for variable

At the bottom of the form to the right of ‘Logged to’ select the appropriate output file.

The variable may be logged with a user-defined name. To do this, type the new
name in the ‘with name’ field.

Close the form by clicking on the ‘Close’ button.

The time histories of all variables that have been logged to an output object are displayed in
the same diagram object which is opened by double clicking. For diagram objects with more
than a single logged variable, one may also plot the cross dependency between variables by
right clicking on the on the output object and selecting ‘Cross dependency’ and then selecting
the variable for the x-axis.

The right-click menu also contains several other possibilities such as export to Excel. Consult
the IDA on-line help texts for more information.

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There are also a several things one can do to tailor the appearance of displayed diagrams, as
explained in the next section.

7.4. Diagram properties

To change a diagram open the Diagram Properties dialog,

1. Selects the diagram or the diagram’s legend.

2. Select Properties... from the Object menu or by right clicking from the shortcut
menu

The Diagram Properties dialog consists of three tabs: General, Legend, and Variables.

Figure 7.9. Diagram Properties dialog, general tab

Figure 7.10. Diagram Properties dialog, Legend tab

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Figure 7.11. Diagram Properties dialog, Variables tab

The General tab controls the general properties of the diagram and legend:

Read-Only
Disables editing of the diagram data. If the diagram data are not intended for editing (e.g., are
calculated), this item is not available.

X-Range
Controls the data range along the horizontal axis (usually the time). Auto means include all
points.

The choice Use time slice is available for time series with Calendar time (not available in
IDA RTV).

Y-Range
Controls the data range along the vertical axis. Auto means include all points.

Font
Select the font for text in diagram (only for bar charts)

Diagram type, Data (for time series only)

Normal Show all points

Integral Show the integral function of the time series. Note that the values of integral
functions have different ranges, measurement units, and descriptions. Therefore
Y-range and the legends and scales for variables should also be changed to
attain a correct integral diagram.

Duration Shows the duration diagram, i.e. samples sorted by size.

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Diagram type, Weight schedule

The weight function is only available with Calendar applications (not IDA RTV).

Diagram type, Presentation

Select how to show the data is in the diagram.

The Legend tab controls the properties of the legend.

The Variables tab controls the properties of data series.

Select a row in the Data series box. The properties of that series will be displayed in the right
side of the dialog box:

Description
Type the text in the legend or select Auto to use the description and the measurement unit of
the variable.

Line color,
Line style
Select the color and the thickness or pattern of the plot line

Adjustment
Select the scale and the offset of the plot line in order to fit in the selected Y-range. The
displayed plot line will have a y-coordinate equal to scale * value + offset. Remember to
mention the scale and offset in the legend (the Auto legend automatically includes this
information).

7.5. Input time series from file (source file)

As an alternative to the definition of tables, one may access time series that have been stored
as text files (usually containing larger amounts of data.) A common situation is when a
variable has been logged in one simulation and then the resulting time series is used as a
driving function for another run.

To create the object that contains the reference to a text file on disk, do the following:

Select library ‘Other’ by clicking on Other in the Side bar.

Position the cursor on the SOURCE-FILE object and drag to the system form.

Open the source file object by double clicking on it and the diagram tab (Figure 7.12)
appears.

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Figure 7.122 Source file dialog

Source files have a format where each row contains time, variable 1 value, variable 2
value, etc. to define time series for variable 1, 2, etc. Extension .prn is used to denote
such files.

Click on the ‘Browse’ button to find the source file.

Click on button 'Take the list of var….' and select appropriate variable by marking it, then
press the OK button.

To bind this time series to a variable in the system model proceed as follows.

Double click on the component containing the variable to be connected.

If the variable appears with a ‘Bind to…’ button in General tab form then

click on the ‘Bind to…’ button

else

click on the Outline tab and find the variable in the list,

right click on the variable and select ‘Binding…’.

The form for connecting a variable appears (Figure 7.5).

Mark ‘connect to a variable of …’ and click on the system model name below. Then a list of
objects (components etc.) of the system model appears in the window to the right. Find the

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source file and click on it to exhibit the variables defined in it. Click on the right variable and
on the ‘Connect’ button to complete the binding.

7.6. Working with the database

IDA RTV uses a database to store typical examples of data objects. When a database object
has been loaded into a system, it is called a Resource.

The following data types may be stored in database:

• Wall types
• Materials
• Cross-section profiles for 3D view of tunnel (optional add-in)

To load an object from the database,

When setting a value for a wall, a material, or a cross-section profile, choose "Search
in database" from the list of available values (alternatively, click the button at the
right of the field or right click on the field and select "Load from database" from
menu).

In the dialog, select the desired object, optionally change the name and press "Ok".

Figure 7.133 Loading object from database

To save an object to the database,

Select the desired object, either in the "Resources" list on the "Global" tab, or in a
field that shows a wall, a material, or a cross-section profile.

Click the button at the right of the field or (in forms) right click on the field.

Select the menu item "Write to database".

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Figure 7.144 Saving an object to the database

To open the database,

Select the Database menu item from the Tools menu.

To remove an object from the database,

Open the database,

Select the desired object.

Press the "Delete" button on the keyboard (alternatively, right click the object and
select "Delete" from the menu).

7.7. Building a custom form

The general tab for an RTV model is reserved for a user-defined form customized for a
single case.

It may contain a description of the tunnel including pictures, and fields for access to the most
important parameters and variables.

To add elements to a custom form, use the Insert menu.

To select which tab is shown first when opening a system, select that tab in the menu
Options | RTV Options | Default view for RTV systems.

The fields in the custom view may become invalid in case of changes in the tunnel’s schema.
To fix a field which has become invalid, click it with right mouse button and select
Replace… from the pop-up menu.

Fan on/off
To insert, for example, a fan switch,

Select Insert | New Field …menu item;

In the Insert field dialog, select the tunnel section with required fan;

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In the “show as” list, select “Fan at xxx on/off” and click “Ok”

Mark the place in the form where the field is to be inserted.

To edit the label, click the field with the right mouse button and select Properties from the
pop-up menu.

Figure 7.15. Insert fan switch dialog

Insert a new Element into a Document

To insert a new element into the edited document do the following:

Select the element from the Insert Menu: Object, Field, Text, Shape, or Button. A
dialog will normally appear.

If a dialog is displayed, select the desired type of new object from the dialog and
press the OK button (the dialogs for inserting objects and fields are more
complicated, see Insert Component Dialog, Insert Field Dialog for details).

If the cursor in the document changes its form to , choose a place and a size for
the new object.

For the Text class one must also type in a string. The cursor (vertical line) shows
where to begin. Press Enter to end typing. See Text elements for details.

These are typical steps. Sometimes they can be different.

2a) If there is no choice of type (i.e., objects of a single type may be inserted) step 2
is skipped.

3a) For lines (polyline, polygon, and arc) step 3 is completely different; see Editing a
line.

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Figure 7.156. Insert Graphics dialog

A simple custom form

The example from \ida\samples\rtv\ test3.idm shown below is a simple example of a custom
form. With the use of a form it’s easy in this example to perform simulations with fan on or
off and check the resulting NO2 max. value without leaving the general tab.

Figure 7.167. A sample form with graphics, fields and text

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8. Selected topics on physical modelling

8.1. Overview of pressure and flow

Let us review some of the basic mechanisms which influence pressure and incompressible3
air flow in a tunnel. Starting from the barometric pressure at some reference level (defined to
be 0 m in RTV), let us call it pAmb, static pressure at the tunnel opening height, h, will be
h

p Height = − ∫ ρ (T , p( z )) ⋅ g ⋅ dz ⋅ + p Amb ,
0

where ρ is air density as function of height and g is the acceleration of gravity. The static
pressure outside of the tunnel portal (away from the influence of tunnel air velocity) will then
be pHeigth + pWind, where the latter term is due to wind forces acting on the opening. (In IDA
Tunnel, wind pressure is related to the dynamic pressure of the wind at some reference level
away from the tunnel while in IDA RTV, any wind pressure is given directly.)

p z
pWind

pHeight h pP1
v
pP2

pAmb 0 reference level

Assuming an air velocity, v, into an empty tunnel, the (static) pressure, pP1, just inside of the
entry will be reduced by two terms

ρ ρ
p P1 − p Height − pWind = − k entry ⋅ v 2 − ⋅ v 2 ,
142243 1 4224
3
1 2

the first being viscous (friction) pressure loss due to turbulence forming at sharp features of
ρ
the portal; the second is due to build-up of dynamic pressure ⋅ v 2 (kinetic energy). The
2
magnitude of viscous losses are conventionally related to the dynamic pressure, here by a
factor kentry, which for a sharp-edged entry portal is around 0.5 (More about this below.)

3
In IDA Tunnel and RTV, air is in fact assumed to be weakly compressible. This means that density is a
function of pressure and temperature, but filtered with respect to local pressure variations inside the tunnel
(which are small wrt. ambient pressure). This approximation works well for prediction of fire and ventilation
flows but is not suitable for prediction of pressure-wave propagation phenomena which become important for
comfort on-board high-speed trains.

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Moving down into the tunnel to point P2, two more terms will influence the static pressure,

fL ρ 2
P2
p P 2 − p P1 = − ⋅ v − ∫ ρ (T , p ) ⋅ g ⋅ dz .
D 2
14243 1h44
1
42444 3
2

Quantified by a so called friction factor, f, the first is a viscous pressure loss due to wall
friction, also conventionally related to dynamic pressure, tunnel length, L, and hydraulic
diameter, D. The second is an increase in pressure due to gravity of tunnel air.

In a tunnel with jet fans and traffic there will naturally be additional driving forces, see the
Theoretical Reference for a full account. Pressure as presented in the path report of IDA is
the static pressure as discussed above but less the ambient pressure at reference level (0 m
height), PAmb. 'Ambient static pressure' in a path report is the pressure one would have outside
of the tunnel wall (should there not be any rock there). So if a small hole would be drilled in
the tunnel wall, the difference between these two pressures would be the driving pressure
across the hole.

Definition of pressure loss coefficients

In addition to friction at the boundary between air and tunnel wall, losses in total pressure
will also occur at flow separation points that are induced by geometrical features such as
sharp edges, area changes, obstructions etc. The magnitude of such losses is, as previously
indicated, conventionally related to the dynamic pressure in an undisturbed ”normal” cross
section by so called pressure loss coefficients. Figure 8.1 shows a situation where the fittings
around an open damper cause friction losses.

v
pt1 pt2

Figure 8.1 Flow separation at an open damper with asymmetric geometry

The loss coefficient k12 for flow from 1 to 2 is defined by

ρ
p t − p t = k12 ⋅ ⋅ v2 ,
1 2 2

where ρ = air density

v = air velocity (average over cross section)

p t = total pressure before and after the single loss feature.

In the asymmetric damper example, two loss coefficients are needed, one for each flow
direction. However, we have no problem in finding a dynamic pressure to relate the pressure

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loss to, since the duct away from the damper has a constant cross section and therefore
velocity and in turn dynamic pressure. In cases where the cross section of the tunnel changes
at the flow feature, the situation is more complicated and we have to introduce a convention
for the selection of a suitable dynamic pressure to relate the loss coefficient to.

In IDA RTV, the convention is to relate the loss coefficient to the smallest of the two cross
sections that are adjacent to the single loss feature, i.e. to the largest dynamic pressure. Loss
coefficients in sections are called Expansion and Contraction respectively to indicate their
relation to the direction of flow.

In a situation without area change, such as in the damper example above, the “Contraction”
coefficient is valid for flow from left to right (positive direction) and correspondingly the
“Expansion” coefficient is for negative flow.

At tunnel portals, losses in total pressure are naturally defined with respect to dynamic
pressure in the adjacent tunnel. Flow direction is also easily managed by distinction between
flow into or out of the portal.

Pressure losses at tunnel branches

At tunnel branches (junctions), estimation of total pressure losses is much more complex. A
manageable part of the problem is to introduce a suitable convention for definition of loss
coefficients. (see Section 2.1.8 of the Theoretical Reference for the chosen definitions.) More
difficult is to find reliable data for pressure losses in the literature. Available data is almost
exclusively valid for typical duct geometries rather than for tunnels, which typically have
sharp angles between branching tunnels.

In IDA RTV 3.0, empirical expressions by Gardel have been implemented for automatic
estimation of viscous losses in branches. These are not valid for all geometries that may occur
in real tunnels and in cases where branch losses are critical, one should instead give explicit
loss coefficients. User-defined loss coefficients may be given using the Outline view of the
branch model.

Orifice flow situations

For flows through orifices, when there is no natural surrounding duct dynamic pressure to
relate losses to, it is common practice to define a so called Equivalent Leakage Area, ela,
rather than a loss coefficient. The (common) definition of ela used in RTV is

1
∆p = ⋅ m& 2
2 ⋅ ρ ⋅ ela Cd
2 2

where ∆p = difference in static pressure before and after the orifice

ρ = air density

ela = Equivalent Leakage Area

Cd = Discharge coefficient, by default set to 0.65

m& = mass flow through orifice.

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For sharp-edged opening geometries, the default discharge coefficient is chosen so that the
equivalent leakage area roughly corresponds to the physical area of the opening. This
provides a simple way to estimate pressure drop without access to any table data.

Should the orifice in fact be surrounded by a duct with a well-defined area, as for example in
the Damper component in closed position, the following holds

At2 ρ
∆p = 2 2
⋅ ⋅ vt2 and therefore,
ela Cd 2

At2
k=
ela 2Cd2

where At = surrounding duct (tunnel) area

vt = duct air velocity (average over cross section)

k = loss coefficient.

8.2. Traffic flow model

Congestion model
The traffic (for one lane) is described by the following variables:

- Vehicle flow q [pcu/h] where pcu is Passenger Car Unit (a conventional unit for
measuring traffic flow consisting of vehicles of different type)

- Vehicle speed v [km/h]

- Density ρ [pcu/km]

- Average road length per vehicle d [m/pcu].

The dependence between variables are expressed by equations

v⋅ρ = q
d ⋅ ρ = 1000

For congested traffic, the vehicle speed is limited because of small distance between vehicles.
Therefore we calculate the speed as a function of road length per vehicle v = f (d ) :

v free when d > d free Free traffic

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v free when d > d free Free traffic

free >
> dd >> ddcong
1− d / d
interpolated
vcap e cap between v free and vcap when d cap cap
Medium
Congested
traffic
traffic

decreases linearly to zero when d cong > d > d stop Traffic stop

A graph of this dependence (for three vehicle types) is shown in

Figure 8.2. In Figure 8.3 the same dependence is shown as flow-speed diagram, which is a
more established way of describing traffic flow models.

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Figure 8.2 Vehicle speed [km/h] as function of road length per vehicle [m]

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90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Figure 8.3 The same dependence represented in flow [veh/h] and speed [km/h] coordinates

Unfortunately we cannot require the user to supply values for parameters used in this
equation (except d stop ), because they are not intuitive and depend on many different factors.
Instead we calculate them from the tables described below.

Table 1 gives the value free speed v free (i.e., vehicle speed in non-congested traffic). The free
speed depends on vehicle type, slope, and allowed speed limit. In a realistic traffic model the
free speed may exceed the allowed limit.

In this and the following tables, the slopes and the speed limits should be listed in the
increasing order. The uphill sections have positive slopes.

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Table 2 gives the steady speed that limits the free speed on long uphill sections, depending on
vehicle type and slope. If a vehicle at the beginning of an uphill section moves faster than the
steady speed, it slows down to steady speed at 1000 m of the uphill section and than continue
moving with steady speed.

Table 3 gives the road capacity q cap (maximal possible vehicle flow) as a function of number
of lanes and speed limit. The capacity of the section after entrance is reduced proportionally
to the vehicle flow from the entrance.

Table 4 gives the number of pcu (Passenger Car Units) per vehicle depending on vehicle
type, slope, and slope length. Unlike other tables, this one is never extrapolated; the outmost
rows and columns are used for slopes and length outside of the range given in the table.

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Table 5 defines travel velocity at full capacity flow vcap depending on speed limit and slope.
This is the speed at traffic conditions that corresponds to maximal possible vehicle flow. It
does not depend on vehicle type (i.e. all vehicles are moving with the same speed). Therefore
the value of vcap is reduced if v free for some vehicle type is smaller then vcap .

Table 6 defines the coefficient α for interpolation of the speed between v free and vcap .

The program uses the value of α at flow equal to 0, 43, 77, and 100% of full capacity, but
only the value at 77% is calculated from table. The values at 0 and 43% are always 0 and the
value at 100% is always 1.

The parameters used in the traffic equation are defined as:

vcap
d cap =
qcap

v free
d free =
0.43 ⋅ q cap

d stop – calculated as an average road length per standing vehicle (that is given by the user
for every vehicle type)

d cong – a point between d stop and d cap calculated from the condition that the curve
v = f (d ) is smooth.

Tunnel connections

The traffic in every tunnel section is simulated using one or two (for bi-directional traffic)
Way models. Adjacent Way models are connected so that every section receives from the
previous one the traffic flow (for every vehicle type) and sends back the traffic density per
lane.

The same information is sent also to and from other traffic models (Queue, Split, Merge).

The splitting branch is modelled using two models, Split and Queue. The Split model is a
simple model that removes the given fraction of the traffic flow from the main stream and

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adds it to the exit stream. The beginning of the exit stream is modelled in the same way as the
tunnel entry (Queue model).

The merging branch (Merge model) joins two traffic streams into one stream. Both ingoing
sections use the value of traffic density from the outgoing section to calculate the traffic
speed. he smallest of the incoming traffic flows reduces the capacity of the outgoing stream.

Tunnel entry and exit

The traffic speed and flow at tunnel entries (Queue model) are calculated as functions of the
density at the beginning of the tunnel. If the ingoing traffic flow exceeds the calculated one,
the extra vehicles line up in the queue. If the ingoing traffic flow is smaller than the
calculated one then the vehicles from the queue (if any) are used to raise the actual flow.

At the tunnel exit, the single required value is the traffic density directly after the tunnel. It is
used to calculate the traffic speed at the end of the last tunnel section.

If the density is set to –1 (left blank in the Entry/Exit form), the Way model will use the
traffic density in the last segment instead.

Multiple vehicle types

Vehicles of different types are modelled as traffic components. Vehicle speed and flow are
calculated separately for every component. Vehicle density is first calculated for every
component, but the flow equations use the total density.

In case of congested traffic all vehicles have the same speed. Therefore the vehicles with low
speed constrain the speed of other vehicles. Clearly the traffic components with zero density
cannot hinder other vehicles. Therefore the model assumes that only the components with
density 1 veh/km or higher constrain the speed; for density between 0 and 1 veh/km the
constrained speed is interpolated.

The concentration of traffic components may change dynamically. These changes are not
delayed by the queue because the order in the queue is not modelled.

Multi-lane traffic

The model does not simulate every lane separately. All lanes have equal traffic conditions.
Multi-lane traffic is modelled by defining the road capacity depending on the number of lanes
(table 3 in vehicle flow model). The overtaking possibility is included in this dependency and
not considered elsewhere.

Simplified traffic models

The congestion model is not the most appropriate for modelling a traffic situation with given
vehicle flow or density. For this purpose IDA RTV defines two simplified traffic models:
moving traffic and standing traffic.

In the moving traffic model the road capacity and possible speed are unlimited. The actual
vehicle speed is equal to the given speed limit and vehicle flows are given at each entry.

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The user can specify the default speed limit in the Global tab and the particular limits in
section forms.

In the standing traffic model, all exits are closed so the tunnel fills completely by vehicles,
except sections that are not available for traffic. Traffic lights are ignored, so they do not
prevent the filling of the tunnel. Note that it takes some time to fill the tunnel. If the tunnel is
not completely filled after the simulation, try to increase the simulation time.

The vehicle density is given by the parameter "Road length per standing vehicle".

The distribution of vehicles of different types is calculated from the traffic flows at entries
and exit fractions in splitting branches.

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