The effects of receivers’ interaction on ground and building vibrations induced by surface railways

The rapid development of urban rail transit poses challenges to the vibration prediction of closely spaced structures using conventional single-building-based methods. To assess the involved structure–soil–structure interaction (SSSI) effects, this study introduces a novel 3D semi-analytical/hybrid method, enhancing the multiple scattering technique through a spatial-wavenumber formulation. Verified with finite element method (FEM)-based results, the proposed method enables efficient modeling of steady-state vibrations across the fully coupled track-ground-building system, incorporating the complex interactions among buildings, soil, and track structure. To explore how building properties, soil stiffness, track types, and SSSI coupling strategies influence vibration transmission and amplification, we conduct several parametric studies. Results show that the significance of the presence of adjacent structures on the ground and building response, and their varying dependence on the ways of coupling between components. Besides, we determine the critical track-building distance and building spacing of a special case when the SSSI effect should be included, considering the effects of neighboring existing structures on the newly built one, and the opposite. The findings underscore the limitations of traditional decoupled approaches, suggesting that a fully coupled SSSI model is essential for accurately predicting the dynamic behavior of urban structures and ground subjected to railway-induced loads.