Study on the Evolution Process of Snow Cover in Wind-Induced Railway Embankments and the Control Effect of Snow Fences

Snowdrift, as a natural disaster, constantly compromises railway traffic by affecting how snow accumulates on the subgrade. This paper establishes a unified set of similarity criteria for wind tunnel testing, using viscous silica sand to simulate snow particles. By employing a geometric scale model (1:30) and similarity criteria (size, motion, dynamics, accumulation patterns, and time scales), it systematically investigates the evolution patterns of wind-induced snow accumulation on two types of roadbed structures: embankments and excavations. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of snow fences, proposing optimized placement distances and quantifying the effects of snow accumulation platform width. The results showed the following: (1) Snow on embankments has a “U”-shaped distribution, with the lowest wind speed (<0.5 m/s) and maximum accumulation at the leeward slope’s foot. In excavations, snow forms an “M”-shaped distribution, with significantly reduced wind speeds (<1 m/s) on the accumulation platform. (2) Snow fences effectively manage snow placement by lowering wind speed (below 1 m/s). A single-row snow fence with a porosity of 50% and a height of 3 m performs best when placed at seven times its height (7 H) from the slope’s toe. (3) A 5 m snow accumulation platform in excavations reduces surface snow accumulation (distribution coefficient drops to 1.6), outperforming scenarios without a platform (coefficient of 2.0). These findings contribute to the prevention and control of snowdrift disasters along railway lines in cold regions. They offer practical guidance for optimizing snow fence configurations, while also laying a foundation for future improvements in experimental accuracy through advanced techniques such as PIV and real-snow testing.