Ground Vibration from High-Speed Trains: Prediction and Countermeasure

TLDR

The study develops and validates a numerical model to predict ground and embankment vibration induced by high‑speed trains and evaluates a remediation strategy. The model represents the ground as a layered viscoelastic half‑space and the embankment as a viscoelastic beam, using Kausel‑Roësset Green’s functions to assemble the soil‑embankment stiffness matrix and solving in the frequency domain with Fourier synthesis to obtain time‑history motions. Simulations closely match measured ground responses, accurately reproducing large deformations at speeds above 140 km/h, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation measure.

Abstract

This paper outlines a test program in southern Sweden for measurement of the vibration induced in the ground and railway embankment by high-speed trains, together with a rigorous numerical model developed for the prediction of embankment/ground response. In this formulation the ground is modeled as a layered viscoelastic half-space, and the railway embankment is modeled as a viscoelastic beam excited by the moving loads of the train. The model uses the Kausel-Roësset Green's functions to calculate the soil stiffness matrix at the ground-embankment interface and assembles it with the dynamic stiffness matrix of the embankment. The solution is carried out in the frequency domain, and the time histories of the motions are derived through a Fourier synthesis of the frequency components. Numerous simulations of train-induced vibration are presented for the ground conditions and embankment parameters at the test site and compared with measured records. The simulations agree well with the measurements, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. In particular, the large ground deformations registered for train speeds exceeding 140 km/h are reproduced by the simulations. With the help of the prediction model, the effectiveness of a remediation measure for the mitigation of ground vibration is explored.