Dynamic response of the ground beneath a high-speed railway based on typical upper Shanghai clays involving water table change

Abstract

A rising water table increases soil water content, reduces soil strength, and amplifies vibrations under identical train loads, thereby posing greater risks to train operations. To investigate this phenomenon, we used a 2.5D finite element (FE) model of a coupled vehicle–embankment–ground system based on Biot’s theory. The ground properties were derived from a typical soil profile of the Yangtze River basin, using geological data from Shanghai, China. The findings indicate that a rise in the water table leads to increased dynamic displacements of both the track and the ground. This amplification effect extends beyond the depth of the water table, impacting the entire embankment–foundation cross-section, and intensifies with higher train speeds. However, the water table rise has a limited impact on the critical speed of trains and dominant frequency contents. The dynamic response of the embankment is more significantly affected by water table rises within the subgrade than by those within the ground. When the water table rises into the subgrade, significant excess pore pressure is generated inside the embankment, causing a substantial drop in effective stress. As a result, the stress path of the soil elements in the subgrade approaches the Mohr-Coulomb failure line, increasing the likelihood of soil failure.

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