Seismic vibration measurements near high speed railway lines to validate University of Edinburgh developed software

Abstract

This paper outlines experimental investigations undertaken on the Belgian high speed rail network to facilitate the validation of a finite element model and to investigate the vibration propagation characteristics of three different earthworks profiles. The sites tested were an embankment, an at‐grade section and a cutting and the soil material properties at each site were determined using MASW techniques. Once recorded, the results were compared against those from the numerical model and a high correlation was found. Regarding the effect of earthworks profiles on vibration levels, vibrations were measured up to 100m from the track and it was found that cuttings produced elevated vibration levels in comparison to the at‐grade and embankment cases. Furthermore it was shown that the presence of embankments generated higher frequency content.