Influence of tunnel and soil parameters on vibrations from underground railways

A parametric study is performed to identify the key parameters which have an important influence on the generation and propagation of vibrations from underground railways. In this paper, the parameters related to the tunnel and the soil are considered and their influence on the free field response is studied.The coupled periodic finite element-boundary element model and the pipe-in-pipe model have been used for this study. Both models account for the dynamic interaction between the train, the track, the tunnel and the soil. A general analytical formulation is used to compute the response of three-dimensional invariant or periodic media that are excited by moving loads. The response to moving loads is written in terms of the axle loads and the transfer functions.The parametric study can be carried out by separately analyzing the variations in the axle loads and the transfer functions. The axle loads are mainly influenced by the parameters related to the vehicle and the track, while the transfer functions are influenced by the properties of the track, the tunnel and the soil. In the present paper, the parameters related to the tunnel and soil are investigated.It is observed that the material damping and the shear modulus of the soil have an important influence on the propagation of vibrations. The influence of structural changes to the tunnel as well as geometrical properties such as the size and shape of the tunnel is investigated. It is observed that a larger tunnel results in a smaller response above the tunnel as more energy is radiated downwards. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the tunnel geometry has a considerable influence on the response closer to the tunnel.