TY - CHAP A1 - Auersch, Lutz ED - Krylov, Victor T1 - Fast trains and isolating tracks on inhomogeneous soils N2 - Methods have been presented for detailed studies of railway vibration and for the fast prediction of train-induced ground vibration. The ground vibration is generated by static or dynamic loads. The main purpose of this contribution was to show the influence of inhomogeneous soils on the different vibration components. Layered soils, namely a soft layer on a stiffer half-space, yield a quite specific transmission behavior. The low-frequency and sometimes also high-frequency cut-off of the transfer function of the soil is demonstrated in theory and by experiments at many sites of which the soil model is approximated from dispersion and transfer function measurements. The layer frequency divides the frequency range in a low-frequency range, where the stiff half-space rules the low amplitudes, and a high amplitude high-frequency range which is mainly determined by the softer top layer. A thick soft layer yields a very low layer frequency, so that the higher soft soil amplitudes have a wider range down to low frequencies. A thin layer yields a high layer frequency, so that the high frequencies above this layer frequency are dominant. The higher the contrast between the stiff half-space and the soft layer is, the stronger the increase between the half-space and layer amplitudes, the more characteristic are the spectra of the soil transfer function. The range of measured soils has been from vS1 down to 125 m/s, vS2 up to 1000 m/s and the layer frequencies are within 10 Hz < f0 < 75 Hz. Moreover, during this measuring campaign in Switzerland, all 11 sites showed clearly the layer-on-half-space behaviour. The transfer functions of inhomogeneous soils have been used to predict the ground vibration due to dynamic axle loads which is usually thought to be the most important component. The passage of static loads, in the contrary, results in very small vibration amplitudes for low train speeds, which can only be found at near distances and at low frequencies. They attenuate very rapidly with distance and lose very rapidly the higher frequency content. The passage of static axle loads can be included in the prediction of railway vibration just for completeness. Special attention should be given to the case if the train runs with the Rayleigh-wave speed of the soil (Rayleigh train). The Rayleigh-train effect is strongest for a homogeneous half-space: At the near-field of the track the amplitudes are raised strongly compared to normal trains, and in addition, little attenuation with distance is observed. In case of a layered soil, the low-frequency cut-off reduces the frequency range and the amplitudes of the homogeneous quasi-static ground vibrations. Therefore, the Rayleigh-train effects are clearly reduced by a layered soil and they disappear if the layer frequency (for example for a thin layer) is higher than the frequency band of the axle impulse. The Rayleigh-train effect could completely disappear in a randomly inhomogeneous soil, but this has not been analysed so far. The axle impulses from static loads can have an additional, quite different effect. They can be scattered by a randomly inhomogeneous soil so that a part (the scattered part) of the axle impulse can reach further distances from the track. This can establish a certain mid-frequency component of the ground vibration which becomes dominant in the far-field, and this important component exists for all train speeds. Experimental results from BAM and international measurements show the importance of the corresponding frequency range. The mitigation of train induced ground vibration by elastic and stiff track elements has been analysed threefold. The vehicle-track interaction yields the reduction at high frequencies above the vehicle-track resonance. This is the standard effect. The filtering of trackbed errors by the bending stiffness of the track yields a certain mid-frequency effect. An even stronger mid-frequency effect is predicted for the mitigation of the scattered axle impulses by the bending stiffness and elastic elements of the track. KW - Ground vibration KW - Inhomogeneous soils KW - Train excitation KW - Prediction KW - Mitigation KW - Layered soils KW - Soft track elements KW - Track beam KW - Scattered axle impulses KW - Wavenumber method KW - Multi-beam method PY - 2019 SN - 978-0-7277-6379-2 DO - https://doi.org/10.1680/gvfhsr.63792.027 SP - Chapter 2, 27 EP - 75 PB - ICE Publishing CY - London ET - 1 AN - OPUS4-48432 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Force and ground vibration reduction of railway tracks with elastic elements N2 - The reduction of train-induced ground vibration by elastic elements such as rail pads and sleeper pads has been analyzed by a combined finite-element boundary-element method. The dynamic compliance of the track, the transfer function of the total force on the ground and the ground vibration ratios have been calculated for a variety of isolated and un-isolated track systems. It has been found that the soil force transfer, which describes the excitation force of the soil, is an appropriate quantity to predict the reduction of the ground vibration and the effectiveness of isolated tracks. All force transfer functions of isolated tracks display a vehicle–track resonance where the wheelset on the compliant track is excited by wheel and track irregularities. At higher frequencies, considerable reductions of the amplitudes are observed as the benefit of the resilient element. The influence of the stiffness of the rail or sleeper pads, the ballast and the soil, and the mass of the sleeper and the wheelset on the resonance frequency and the reduction has been investigated. Sleeper pads are advantageous due to the higher mass that is elastically supported compared to the rail-pad track system. The combination of elastic rail and sleeper pads has been found to be disadvantageous, as the second resonance occurs in the frequency range of intended reduction. KW - Railway KW - Track KW - Rail pad KW - Sleeper pad KW - Force transfer KW - Ground vibration KW - Reduction PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/1077546313507099 SN - 1077-5463 SN - 1741-2986 VL - 21 IS - 11 SP - 2246 EP - 2258 PB - Sage Science Press CY - Thousand Oaks, CA, USA AN - OPUS4-33682 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Four typical errors in train induced ground vibration and ground vibration mitigation N2 - Mitigation measures of railway induced vibration have been demonstrated at the emission, transmission and immission part. It must be carefully observed that the correct masses and stiffnesses are used. Typical mistakes have been shown, - 1D models for vehicle-track interaction, - impedance instead of stiffness for the infill material of a trench, - rigid buildings or neglecting the soil-building interaction. The dominant mid-frequency part of the ground vibration is due to the irregular soil. T2 - ISO/TC 108/SC 2/WG 8 Working group Ground-borne noise and vibration from rail systems CY - Milano, Italy DA - 14.10.2019 KW - Ground vibration KW - Train excitation KW - Mitigation PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49446 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz ED - Papadrakakis, Manolis T1 - Frequency-wavenumber method for the wave propagation through the soil and the soil-structure interaction of railway tracks and building foundations near railway lines N2 - In soil-structure interaction, the soil and the (flexible) structures are modelled as elastic continua. The partial differential equations of elasticity can be transformed to algebraic equations in frequency-wavenumber domain where they can be solved by matrix methods. The results for the soil and a structure can be coupled in frequency-wavenumber domain, and the solution in space domain is obtained by an infinite wavenumber integral (the back-transformation). This method has several applications for the prediction of the emission, transmission and immission of railway-induced vibrations. The wave propagation in homogeneous or layered soils is calculated for surface and tunnel lines by a single wavenumber integration (transmission). The response of ballast or slab tracks (for the emission problem) and the foundation stiffness (for the immission problem) need an additional integration across the track or foundation width. In wavenumber domain, tracks and foundations of infinite length are analysed. Finite structures can be calculated by finite element models where the soil is calculated by the boundary element method. The Green’s functions for the boundary element method are calculated by a wavenumber integration as for the transmission problem. Some example results for all these tasks will be shown. The immission into buildings will be analysed in detail, and the effect of stiff slab foundations and (basement) walls on the incoming wavefield is quantified in a parameter study. The transfer function (the amplitude ratio) structure to free field usually starts with 1 at 0 Hz and decreases continuously with frequency. The reduction is due to the structural stiffness against wave deformation which turns to be higher than the stiffness of the soil, for example above the structure-soil coincidence frequency of the slab foundation. The reduction is better for a high structural stiffness and for a low soil stiffness. Walls are stiffer than plates for the relevant frequency range, but even walls and especially low basement walls are not infinitely rigid and can follow the wave deformation to a certain extent. These basic rules from frequency-wavenumber analysis can well be used for real building projects near railway lines where stiff foundations can be an alternative reduction method to the commonly used base isolation by elastic elements. T2 - COMPDYN 2025 CY - Rhodos, Greece DA - 15.06.2025 KW - Frequency-wavenumber method KW - Wave propagation KW - Soil-structure interaction KW - Building foundations KW - Mitigation measures PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - NTUA CY - Athen AN - OPUS4-63470 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Frequency-wavenumber method for the wave propagation through the soil and the soil-structure interaction of railway tracks and building foundations near railway lines N2 - In soil-structure interaction, the soil and the (flexible) structures are modelled as elastic continua. The partial differential equations of elasticity can be transformed to algebraic equations in frequency-wavenumber domain where they can be solved by matrix methods. The results for the soil and a structure can be coupled in frequency-wavenumber domain, and the solution in space domain is obtained by an infinite wavenumber integral (the back-transformation). This method has several applications for the prediction of the emission, transmission and immission of railway-induced vibrations. The wave propagation in homogeneous or layered soils is calculated for surface and tunnel lines by a single wavenumber integration (transmission). The response of ballast or slab tracks (for the emission problem) and the foundation stiffness (for the immission problem) need an additional integration across the track or foundation width. In wavenumber domain, tracks and foundations of infinite length are analysed. Finite structures can be calculated by finite element models where the soil is calculated by the boundary element method. The Green’s functions for the boundary element method are calculated by a wavenumber integration as for the transmission problem. Some example results for all these tasks will be shown. The immission into buildings will be analysed in detail, and the effect of stiff slab foundations and (basement) walls on the incoming wavefield is quantified in a parameter study. The transfer function (the amplitude ratio) structure to free field usually starts with 1 at 0 Hz and decreases continuously with frequency. The reduction is due to the structural stiffness against wave deformation which turns to be higher than the stiffness of the soil, for example above the structure-soil coincidence frequency of the slab foundation. The reduction is better for a high structural stiffness and for a low soil stiffness. Walls are stiffer than plates for the relevant frequency range, but even walls and especially low basement walls are not infinitely rigid and can follow the wave deformation to a certain extent. These basic rules from frequency-wavenumber analysis can well be used for real building projects near railway lines where stiff foundations can be an alternative reduction method to the commonly used base isolation by elastic elements. T2 - COMPDYN 2025 CY - Rhodos, Greece DA - 15.06.2025 KW - Frequency-wavenumber method KW - Wave propagation KW - Soil-structure interaction KW - Building foundations KW - Mitigation measures PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63468 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Ground vibration due to railway traffic - the calculation of the effects of moving static loads and their experimental verification N2 - The regular static Response is important at low frequencies and near-field. The regular dynamic response due to sleeper passage is more important at high frequencies. The irregulär static response due to randomly varying soil properties is more important at medium frequencies and at far-field. T2 - 8th Workshop on Railway Noise and Vibration CY - Buxton, UK DA - 08.09.2004 KW - Static railway loads KW - Ground vibration KW - Sleeper passage KW - Axle-sequence PY - 2004 AN - OPUS4-47090 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz ED - Thompson, D. ED - Jones, C. T1 - Ground vibration due to railway traffic - the calculation of the effects of moving static loads and their experimental verification T2 - 8th International Workshop on Railway Noise CY - Buxton, England, UK DA - 2004-09-08 PY - 2004 VL - 1 SP - 119 EP - 129 CY - Buxton AN - OPUS4-4632 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Ground vibration due to railway traffic - the calculation of the effects of moving static loads and their experimental verification T2 - 8th Workshop on Railway Noise and Vibration CY - Buxton, England DA - 2004-09-08 PY - 2004 AN - OPUS4-5448 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Ground vibration due to railway traffic - The calculation of the effects of moving static loads and their experimental verification N2 - The propagation of waves through homogeneous or layered soil is calculated based on half-space theory. The moving dynamic loads of a train are approximated by fixed dynamic loads and the wave field can be calculated if the spectrum of the dynamic train loads is known. In addition to this dynamic wave field, there are three different components at three different frequency ranges which are caused by the passage of the static loads: • the regular static component at low frequencies, • the irregular static component at medium frequencies, • the sleeper-passing component at high frequencies. For each of these components, an approximate solution is presented. The calculated wave field is compared with measurements of different trains at different sites. The measurement of impulse and harmonic point load excitation verifies the soil dynamic base of the method. PY - 2006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2005.08.059 SN - 0022-460X SN - 1095-8568 VL - 293 IS - 3-5 SP - 599 EP - 610 PB - Academic Press CY - London AN - OPUS4-14049 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz ED - Papadrakakis, M. ED - Fragiadakis, M. ED - Plevris, V. T1 - High-speed railway tracks of a surface, bridge and tunnel line and some effects on the train-induced bridge and ground vibrations T2 - COMPDYN 2011 - 3rd International thematic conference - Computational methods in structural dynamics and earthquake engineering CY - Corfu, Greece DA - 2011-05-25 KW - Track compliance KW - Surface line KW - Bridge track KW - Tunnel track KW - Ground vibration KW - Layered soil KW - Bridge resonance KW - Train speed KW - Axle sequence KW - Track irregularities PY - 2011 SP - 1 EP - 17(?) AN - OPUS4-24555 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -