A novel approach to the transient ventilation of road tunnels

We propose in this paper a novel approach to predict the transient behavior of the ventilation of road tunnel based on the traffic data measured at the outlet portal of tunnel. The approach starts with a so-called traffic group-partition dilemma, which essentially partitions the traffic flow into various groups so that the transient behavior of the induced wind speed can be accurately predicted. As a result, one may employ the present approach to predict the ventilation situation along a road tunnel, which can be a long tunnel in motorway, and needs only to measure the traffic data at one location in or near the tunnel, for example, the outlet portal. Accordingly, the present approach shall become a rather economic and efficient scheme to be considered to monitor the ventilation situation in road tunnels as the approach is converted into a computer program, which can be used in the real-time ventilation control of the tunnel