Ground vibration analysis under combined seismic and high-speed train loads

Abstract

The rise of high-speed railway induces an increased probability of serious derailment accidents of operating high-speed trains during earthquakes. A two-and-half-dimensional finite element model (2.5D FEM) was developed to investigate the ground vibration under combined seismic and high-speed train loads. Numerical examples were demonstrated and the proposed method was turned out to provide an effective means for estimating ground vibration caused by high-speed train load during earthquakes. The dynamic ground displacement caused by combined seismic and high-speed train loads increases with the increase of the train speed, and decreases with the increase of the stiffness of ground soil. Compared with the seismic load alone, the coupling effect of the seismic and high-speed train loads results in the low-frequency amplification of ground vibration. The moving train load dominants the medium–high frequency contents of the ground vibration induced by combined loads. It is observed that the coupling effects are significant as the train speed is higher than a critical speed. The critical train speed increases with the increase of the ground stiffness and the intensity of the input earthquake motion.