Seismic Resistant Viaduct Design for the Taiwan High

Speed Rail Project

 Pile-soil interaction modelling for High Speed Rail viaduct structures
 Automated viaduct model building
 Multi-modal spectral response analysis

FaberMaunsell, a leading consulting firm for seismic design work, used LUSAS Bridge to assist in
the design of seismic resistant viaduct structures and station guideways for Contract C270 on the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Project. Response spectrum analysis with LUSAS determined forces in
columns. Track-structure interaction analysis derived relative movements and stresses within the
rails under earthquake loading. Nonlinear soil-structure analysis determined stresses in piles and
pilecaps. Solid element modelling of the end-blocks for the proposed post-tensioning system and
shell element modelling of the precast superstructures helped produce local bending moments.
The end result? An economical design within a demanding project time-scale.
Overview

The 345km long High Speed Rail route runs from

Taipei City in the North of the country to Kaohsiung
City in the South. It will allow trains to travel at a top
speed of 300 km per hour. Split into numerous
design contracts, Contract C270 requires the
design of 38km of standard viaducts through
Changhua, Yunlin & Chiayi Counties and a station
guideway at Yunlin.

On Contract C270, the viaduct is up to 28m high,

and made up of 35m long precast post-tensioned
concrete box girders simply supported on single
columns. The deck units have free sliding
mechanical pot bearings at each corner. Shear
keys at either end of the span provide transverse
restraint with one end fixed longitudinally. Bored
piled foundations of 2m diameter and up to 60m
long support the viaduct. Station guideways are of
similar construction but with twin box-girders and
RC portal-frame supports.

Analysis Requirements

The viaduct needed to meet three key requirements: strict ride performance criteria set by the client for
normal operating conditions; remain within the elastic range and restrict movements to specified values
during a significant seismic event so that a train may stop safely; and to support the design loads and
suffer only repairable damage from the maximum design earthquake. To achieve these requirements four
distinct analyses involving the use of local and global LUSAS models were required in order to prove the
suitability of the design.

To analyse the entire 38km long viaduct required the creation of 70 separate models. FaberMaunsell
introduced automation wherever possible to enable the analysis to be carried out efficiently. A Visual
Basic Script was written to read geometric data for the viaduct, such as column dimensions, span lengths
etc from an Excel database and built 3D beam models in LUSAS for the global seismic analysis and
track-structure interaction automatically. This reduced the cost of creating new models and provided
confidence that the models were "machine perfect" every time. In these models, joint elements were used
to represent concentrated masses, foundation stiffnesses, bearings and shear-keys.
Global Seismic Analysis

For each model, acceleration response-spectrum analyses were carried out and the effects of up to 200
modes were combined using the CQC method. Analyses were run in three orthogonal directions
separately and combined according to the project requirements. In these analyses the stiffnesses of the
adjacent piers could vary significantly, particularly in the station guideways and at non-standard spans.
The multi-modal spectral response analysis determined the seismic demand allowing for variation in pier
stiffness, which would not have been possible using single-mode equivalent static calculations. From
these global analyses column design forces were obtained and used for reinforcement design.
Foundation Analysis

For the pile and pile cap analyses 3D beam and

shell elements were used with Winkler springs
representing the nonlinear soil-pile interaction.
Patch loads representing forces due to plastic
hinges forming in the columns were applied to the
shell elements that modelled the pilecap.

The design ground acceleration in this contract

could exceed 0.6g due to near-fault zones and the
LUSAS analysis permitted stresses in the piles and
pilecaps to be determined allowing for nonlinear
soil behaviour. The models were also used to
calculate the translational and rotational stiffnesses
of the foundation which has a significant effect on
the earthquake loads predicted by the response
spectrum analysis.

The foundation models were used to obtain pile

design forces and moments, and then by slicing
sections through critical sections of the pilecap,
Clarke-Neilsen forces were derived for
reinforcement design.

Track-Structure Interaction Analysis (TSI)

For each automatically created model, design response spectrum-equivalent earthquake records were
applied to column bases in three directions simultaneously. This was done by using prescribed
accelerations controlled with loadcurves. The columns were made as slender and flexible as possible to
lengthen the structure periods and hence reduce the seismic demand on them. However, running
contrary to this, it had also to be demonstrated that the substructure was sufficiently stiff to ensure safe
operation of the railway during Taiwan's frequent earthquakes and to allow the safe stopping of a train
during a seismic event should the need arise. The TSI analysis predicted less conservative relative
movements between adjacent superstructures than a hand analysis, because it could allow for the
restraint provided by the continuous welded rails. The LUSAS analysis also allowed direct calculation of
stresses in the rails under earthquake loading. From the TSI analysis relative displacement histories for
adjacent girders and stress histories for rails were obtained. By enveloping the results of all time steps
maximum design values were obtained.

Superstructure Analysis

For the superstructure analysis solid modelling was required to determine stresses due to distortion of
end diaphragms and equilibrium effects within anchorage zones in the precast box girders. To do this,
patch loads representing the prestress, bearing loads and seismic buffer force were applied to the model.
Stresses produced were integrated to give forces and moments at each section in the end-blocks and
results were used for reinforcement design.
"The versatility of LUSAS Bridge coupled with the technical expertise within our
Group helped produce an economical design for the extreme seismic
performance criteria of the Taiwan project with its demanding programme and
construction constraints."