Modeling of Vibrations Induced by Mecca-Medinah High-Speed Train and Earthquake Mitigation Analysis

In the past few years, a new network of high-speed rail (HSR) has been developed to connect the two holiest Muslim cities, Mecca and Medinah. The new HSR traffic induces vibration noise in its surrounding neighborhoods. This study investigates the ground vibration measurements collected at a farm located at the side of the Al-Haramain HSR track. In addition, a three-dimensional finite element model is developed using the program PLAXIS 3D to further elucidate the vibration characteristics and propose a vibration mitigation solution. The model involves a coupled track/soil system with moving axial loads, which simulates a vertical moving load with the same speed of the HSR. The comparison of the numerical and experimental results demonstrates that the numerical model can correctly predict the ground vibration produced by the high-speed train. To explore vibration mitigation schemes, the validated numerical model was used to examine the effectiveness of Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) barrier in reducing the lateral rail vibration arising from potential earthquakes. The numerical results showed that TDA barrier can effectively reduce the lateral rail vibration.