The effect of soil conditions on the dynamic response of shield tunnels under train-induced vibration loads

In this article, the influence of soil condition on the dynamic response of a tunnel and the surrounding soil was studied by both experimental model tests and numerical simulations. We tested a 1/20-scale tunnel model with three different soil conditions: upper soft soil and lower hard soil, homogeneous soft soil and homogeneous hard soil. We also applied dynamic loads, sweep loads and train loads on the model tunnel for time domain and frequency domain analysis. The experimental and numerical results revealed that the interface between the soft and hard soil strata has an obvious amplification effect on the vibration wave. With the propagation of the vibration wave to the surface, the damping effect of the soil above the tunnel becomes the main factor affecting the dynamic response of soil. The internal force response of the tunnel structure is for the most part concentrated in the section under the excitation load, which is mainly affected by the soil properties beneath the tunnel.