Extended UH model and deformation prediction of high-speed railway subgrade

Abstract

For the rapidity of trains in high-speed railway, it is crucial to guarantee the reliable and safe operation. Strict controls are needed to prevent excessive subgrade deformation. In order to perform more accurate subgrade deformation calculation, the constitutive model used in simulation should demonstrate the small-strain stiffness for uneven settlement calculation, and illustrate time-induced deformation for post-construction deformation. An E-UH model is established based on the original UH model. In the E-UH model, the elastic hysteresis relation is added to describe the initial high stiffness and nonlinear stiffness decay. In addition, the E-UH model also couples the equivalent formula between overconsolidated characteristics and time-induced deformation. Then the effectiveness of this new model is testified by element test prediction. By means of the second development interface of a finite element software, the E-UH model is developed as a subroutine and applied to numerical simulation of subgrade deformation. The simulation represents that the E-UH model is capable of performing deformation prediction during the subgrade construction and post-construction phases, and indicates that considering small-strain stiffness can make the uneven settlement more prominent. This research provides a practical and efficient constitutive model for numerical simulation of the high-speed railway subgrade deformation.