Effects of the Convex Topography on Railway Environmental Vibrations

The railway environmental vibration caused by high-speed railways is harmful to the human health, the structural safety of adjacent buildings, and the normal use of precision instruments. At the same time, it occurs frequently. In this case, the railway environmental vibration has drawn much attention with the rapid development of highspeed railways. Studies in Earthquake Engineering show that a convex topography has a great impact on ground vibrations, however, there is no consideration about the convex topographic effect in the study of the railway environmental vibration when the convex topography is near the roadway. In this paper, the influence of a convex topography on the railway environmental vibration was investigated. Two-dimensional (2D) finite element models consist of subgrade-convex topography and subgrade-flat topography are established using the finite element method. The length and the height of the analysis model are taken as 200 m and 41.3 m, respectively. The external soil of the calculation model is simulated via the artificial boundary. By comparison with measured results, the 2D finite element models were verified to be effective. The convex topographic effect is studied by conducting parameter investigations, such as the bottom width, cross-sectional shape, height-width ratio and the foundation soil properties. Results show that the dimension and cross-section shape of the convex topography and the foundation soil properties have significant effect on the convex topographic effect.