Appropriateness of the Winkler foundation in modeling soil vibrations induced by rail transit

The vibration problem caused by rail transit involves the dynamic interaction between the train, track, roadbed, and surrounding strata. Establishing a comprehensive numerical model that includes all these components is a complex task. Given the complexity of the problem, many related numerical simulation studies simplify the complete system by dividing it into two steps. In the two steps, two inconsistent models are established for the same roadbed-stratum system, which may lead to modeling discrepancies. To reveal these differences, this paper establishes both the Winkler foundation method model and the whole system mode for the same working condition. The simulation results are compared with the whole system mode as a benchmark to examine the discrepancies in the Winkler foundation method. The results indicate that the separate modeling approach of the Winkler foundation method may lead to a significant underestimation of vibration intensity, resulting in an overly optimistic prediction of vibrations.