Numerical investigation of piled raft foundation in mitigating embankment vibrations induced by high-speed trains

A three-dimensional dynamic finite element model of track-ballast-embankment and piled raft foundation system is established. Dynamic response of a railway embankment to a high-speed train is simulated for two cases: soft ground improved by piled raft foundation, and untreated soft ground. The obtained results are compared both in time domain and frequency domain to evaluate the effectiveness of the ground improvement in mitigating the embankment vibrations induced by high-speed trains. The results show that ground improving methods can significantly reduce the embankment vibrations at all considered train speeds (36- 432 km/h). The ground response to a moving load is dictated largely by the relationship between load speed and characteristic value of wave velocities of the ground medium. At low speeds, the ground response from a moving load is essentially quasi-static. That is, the displacements fields are essential the static fields under the load simply moving with it. For the soft ground, the displacement on the ballast surface is large at all observed train speeds. For the model case where the ground is improved by piled raft foundation, the peak displacement is reduced at all considered train speeds compared with the case without ground improvement. Based on the effect of energy-dissipating of ballast-embankment-ground system with damping, the train-induced vibration waves moving in ballast and embankment are trapped and dissipated, and thus the vibration amplitudes of dynamic displacement outside the embankment are significantly reduced. But for the vibration amplitude of dynamic velocity, the vibration waves in embankment are absorbed or reflected back, and the velocity amplitudes at the ballast and embankment surface are enhanced. For the change of the vibration character of embankment and ballast, the bearing capacity and dynamic character are improved. Therefore, both of the static and dynamic displacements are reduced by ground improvement; the dynamic velocity of ballast and embankment increases with the increase of train speed and its vibration noise is another issue of concern that should be carefully evaluated because it is associated with the running safety and comfort of high-speed trains.