Lateral dynamic bridge deck–pier interaction for ultra-high-speed Hyperloop train loading

Abstract

The next generation of ultra-high-speed (UHS) trains, known as Hyperloop and TransPod, are aerospace type vehicles designed to carry passengers. The UHS employs a vehicle capsule within a protected vacuum tube deck, supported by reinforced concrete piers (i.e. multi-span viaduct). The tube environment allows multiple UHS vehicles to run in parallel simultaneously (i.e. twin tube deck) where asymmetric train loading will result in a large dynamic unbalanced moment on the piers. Therefore, exploring the lateral dynamic interaction of bridge deck (twin tube) and piers under such an unbalanced moment is an extremely important factor for the analysis of viaducts under dynamic UHS train loading. Hence, this paper analytically addresses the dynamic bridge deck–pier interaction under UHS train loading for lateral vibration.