Assessment of Ground-Borne Vibration Impact on Underground Services Caused by Vibratory Sheet Pile Driving Using a Coupled SPH-FE Method

Abstract Vibratory driving of steel sheet piles induces ground-borne vibrations that can threaten vibration-sensitive underground infrastructure, such as buried pipelines. However, the dynamic effects of continuous vibratory driving remain insufficiently understood due to limited modeling efforts. This paper presents a validated three-dimensional numerical model that integrates smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with the finite-element (FE) method to simulate sheet pile penetration under vibratory loading. Ground vibration influence distances are identified by comparing model-predicted peak particle velocity (PPV) isolines with established vibration thresholds for buried services. Simulation results demonstrate that soil point velocities vary notably with driving depth, while PPV attenuates with increasing distance and depth. The analysis reveals that stricter vibration criteria extend influence distances, and reliance on surface or near-surface data may lead to overestimation of risk for deep-buried services. Parametric studies indicate that greater centrifugal force and lower driving frequency increase influence distances, whereas higher soil stiffness and reduced soil friction angle decrease them. These findings provide a quantitative basis for assessing and mitigating vibration risks to underground infrastructure during vibratory pile installation.