Design of a shaking table test box for a subway station structure in soft soil

A reasonable choice of structure of a model box is significant for a shaking table test to be successful in geotechnical engineering. A model box has been designed for the shaking table test of a subway station structure in the soft soil of Shanghai in the paper. The reasonable geometric similarity scale of the subway station structure has been determined by a 3-D dynamic analysis under the action of lateral equivalent static loading. The shape, size and structure of the model box are chosen by considering all the involved factors comprehensively. The shape of the box is similar to that of a typical station structure, and the ratio between the plane dimension of the model ground and that of the model structure is big enough to reduce the influence of boundary condition effectively. The structure is strong enough to avoid being demolished by shaking during a test. The contact conditions between the model soil and box are clear to help the data gained from the test well fit that from numerical analysis. The total weight of the model soil and box is less than the bearing capacity of the shaking table apparatus and there is no resonance between the model soil and box. The results show that the model box can be used to simulate the dynamic response of a subway station structure very well, so it provides a firm foundation for the success of the shaking table test of a subway station structure.