TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Rohrmann, Rolf ED - Döhler, Michael T1 - Modal analysis of road and rail bridges for damage detection and resonance prediction N2 - In the 1980s, the Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing started with modal analysis measurements of some bridges before and after repair. For one of the bridges, a structural health monitoring was installed 1994 which is still working up to now. It has been modified and extended several times. The monitoring was extended from the critical span to three neighbouring spans. A modal analysis of the whole bridge with seven spans have been done three times, twice together with EMPA of Switzerland. Additional calibration measurements have been done and additional evaluation procedures have been implemented for the monitoring of the steadily increasing loads from the road traffic. Additional sensors were installed such as strain gauges, crack-width, and temperature sensors. The strong influence of the temperature on the natural frequencies has been studied over the years. Later, a temperature compensation has been established and a weak aging trend has been found in the monitoring data. Now, the bridge will be demolished and replaced by a new bridge. Some results of this long-term monitoring will be shown and possible damages (changes of the pre-stress or the support structure) will be discussed. A second application of modal analysis will be demonstrated: the prediction of the resonances due to passing trains. The response of a bridge to passing trains can be calculated in frequency domain as the multiplication of three spectra, the axle sequence spectrum of the train, the transfer function of the bridge, and the modal force spectrum of a single passing load. A resonance occurs if a maximum of the train spectrum coincides with the maximum of the bridge spectrum. The amplitude at this resonance is strongly influenced by the modal force spectrum which is identical to the frequency or wavenumber spectrum of the corresponding mode shape. Therefore, modal analysis from calculation, impact measurements, wind and train measurements are necessary for the prediction of the resonance occurrence and amplification. Examples of mode shape spectra for single or multi-span bridges with simply supported or continuous spans will be shown, and some relations between mode shapes and resonance amplifications will be concluded. T2 - 11th International Operational Modal Analysis Conference (IOMAC) CY - Rennes, France DA - 20.05.2025 KW - Bridge monitoring KW - Multi-span bridges KW - Damage detection KW - Resonance PY - 2025 SP - 39 EP - 46 PB - INRIA CY - Rennes AN - OPUS4-63473 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir T1 - System and damage identification for cars, floors and roofs, bridges, tracks and foundations by modal analyses, frequency response functions and moving-load responses N2 - The following objects have been analysed by frequency response functions and moving load responses. A simple modal analysis which is based on the transformed and weighted system equations has been tested for an automotive test car and for many floors in many buildings to get some rules for their natural frequency and damping. Moreover, six neighboured equal, weakly coupled, wooden floors in a castle have been measured by ambient and hammer excitation, and a special method to extract the different mode shapes of the closely spaced natural frequencies has been developed and tested. Different foundations, for which the soil-structure interaction is generally important, have been measured and compared with finite-element boundary-element models of varying soil properties. Similarly by FEBEM calculations, damages in railway tracks have been identified from flexibility functions (frequency response functions) and from the moving-load responses to normal train operation. Rail and foot bridges have been measured during train passages and by quasi-static tests with moving vehicles. The repeatability of the inclinometer measurements has been checked for different passages, passage directions, and measurement campaigns at a six-span foot bridge. Two rail bridges at the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed line have been measured and evaluated for integrity and for the train- and speed-dependent bridge resonances. The relation between the multi-axle and the single-axle excitation can be solved in frequency domain by the axle-sequence spectrum of the vehicle or the whole train. The single axle response has been used to identify track and bridge damages in laboratory and in situ. T2 - 10th International Operational Modal Analysis Conference (IOMAC 2024) CY - Naples, Italy DA - 21.05.2024 KW - Weakly coupled floors KW - Bridge passage KW - Track damage KW - Foundation-soil interaction KW - Flexibility function KW - Moving load response PY - 2024 SN - 978-3-031-61420-0 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61421-7_19 SN - 2366-2557 SP - 187 EP - 195 PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG CY - Cham, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-61248 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Conreaux, Laurence A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Müller, Roger T1 - The excitation, propagation, and mitigation of train-induced ground vibrations from the axle impulses on the track N2 - Train-induced vibrations in soft ground usually have a strong low-frequency component. This component has a characteristic spectrum which is related to the axle sequence and the speed of the train. Its attenuation with distance is weaker than the attenuation for higher frequencies, and it always dominates the far-field ground vibration. Narrow-band frequency analyses clearly show that this ground vibration component is due to the static axle loads. Axle box vibrations have a different characteristic where the first out-of-roundness of the wheels is the only remarkable low-frequency component. Therefore, the dynamic axle loads from wheel and track irregularities are not the reason for the strong ground vibration component. The moving static axle loads generate the quasi-static response of the soil at very low frequencies and at very near distances. A part of the original impulse spectrum is scattered when it propagates through an inhomogeneous ballast and soil with a randomly varying stiffness. The axle impulses are smoother for a higher bending stiffness or a lower support stiffness (under sleeper pads, under ballast mats) of the track. This mitigation of the ground vibration will be demonstrated by measurements at three sites in Switzerland as well as the characteristic of the soil and axle-box vibrations. T2 - Sixth International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 01.09.2024 KW - Soil and vehicle measurements KW - Train passages KW - Ground vibration KW - Excitation mechanisms KW - Mitigation KW - Under sleeper pads KW - Under ballast mat PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.4203/ccc.7.13.2 SN - 2753-3239 VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Civil-Comp Press CY - Edinburgh, United Kingdom AN - OPUS4-61240 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Rohrmann, R. T1 - Measurement and evaluation tools for ground and building vibrations from industrial pro-cesses, construction work, traffic and other sources N2 - Vibration measurements have many causes and many technical and natural sources. Problems can sometimes be solved by short-term measurements, but in many cases, a long-term measurement is necessary. In long-term measurements of days, weeks, months and even years, it is easy to collect a huge quantity of raw data, but at the end, the post-processing of these data can be exhausting (for example one-year vibration data of a wind energy tower). A software has been developed which con-sists of measuring and evaluation routines where the measuring routines can operate different meas-uring systems and different measuring cards. The main advantage of this software is the fact that the interesting evaluations can be integrated in the measuring process so that the characteristics of the vibration can be extracted without storing all the raw data. Only important time segments are stored, for example train passages. The overall concept of the software and the main evaluation routines will be described in some details. Examples of our measurement experience will illustrate the capabilities of the software. 1) Surveying construction work in nearby sensitive buildings (for example an old wind tunnel), including a stable alarm system and meaningful vibration limits. 2) Prediction of train-induced vibration for a planned building to prevent annoyance and to improve the building design. 3) Modal analysis and long term measurements of several single- or multi-span, concrete or steel bridges 4) Modal and wave analysis of coupled floors in a historical building (“Neues Palais” at Potsdam). 5) Soil properties of various measurement sites (different routines to evaluate the dispersion). Moreover, from many projects, amplitudes, frequencies, and attenuation laws have been collected and analysed for the different sources such as vibratory or impact pile driving and ground compaction, demolition work with different machines, blasting in quarries and in tunnel works, bomb and mine clearing. T2 - 28th International Congress on Sound and Vibration CY - Online meeting DA - 24.07.2022 KW - Ground vibration KW - Building vibration KW - Measurement KW - Evaluation KW - Modes KW - Waves PY - 2022 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-56602 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir T1 - Dynamic track-soil interaction – calculations and measurements about slab and ballast tracks N2 - The dynamic behaviour of slab and ballast tracks has been investigated by measurements and calculations. Hammer impacts and train passages have been analysed. Measurements have been performed by geophones (velocity transducers) which have been time-integrated to displacements. The calculations are done in frequency-wavenumber domain for multi-beam-on-continuous soil models. The characteristics of the different tracks and track elements have been established in theory and experiment. The frequency-dependent compliances (displacement transfer functions) show clear rail-on-rail-pad resonances or highly damped track-soil resonances. Compared to the rail and sleeper, the track plate has much lower amplitudes. The slab track has usually the highest rail amplitudes due to soft rail pads. The train passage yields track displacements which are a superposition of the axle loads from the two neighbouring axles of a bogie and from the two bogies of two neighbouring carriages. This global behaviour is characteristic for the track plate of the slab track whereas the rails of the slab and the ballast track behave more local with only one bogie of influence. The measurements agree very well with the theory of the continuous soil in case of the six measured slab tracks and acceptably well for the six measured ballast tracks. The measurements allow to find appropriate model parameters and to check the models, for example the Winkler model of the soil has been found less appropriate as it reacts more locally. KW - Slab track KW - Ballast track KW - Train passage KW - Hammer impact KW - Track-soil interaction PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1900651 SN - 1673-565X VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 21 EP - 36 PB - Zhejiang University Press CY - Hangzhou AN - OPUS4-52107 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Müller, R. A1 - Brechbühl, Y. A1 - Lutzenberger, S. A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Guigou-Carter, C. A1 - Villot, M. A1 - Müller, R. ED - Degrande, G. ED - al., et T1 - Vibration Excitation at Turnouts, Mechanism, Measurements and Mitigation Measures N2 - There is a strong need for cost-effective mitigation measures for turnouts. SBB has initiated a series of examinations using different methodologies to gain a deeper understanding of the excitation mechanisms at low frequencies, in addition to that obtained in the RIVAS project. To date it is not yet clear what constitutes a complete measurement data set that would enable understanding most of the vibration excitation mechanisms in turnouts. Increasing vibration at turnouts in comparison to normal track is observed for all measured frequencies. The different methodologies are presented in the paper. Under-sleeper pads (USP) are a cost-effective method to reduce vibration at frequencies above 63 Hz (1/3 octave), but there is probably no improvement for frequencies below 63 Hz. A first test of new frog geometry did not show relevant improvements in Vibration emission in comparison to a reference frog geometry. Axle box acceleration measurements are an interesting method to identify defects in a turnout. A specialized measurement system of rail roughness could identify certain geometry Problem areas for some frogs. Noise increases also are observed at turnouts for frequencies ranging between 80 to 1000 Hz. The use of railway source models to calculate contact forces for ballasted track and turnouts seems promising, in particular for understanding the influence of ground. KW - Turnout KW - Switch KW - Vibration excitation KW - Vibration measurements PY - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-70288-5 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70289-2_42 SN - 1612-2909 VL - 150 SP - 403 EP - 410 PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG CY - Cham AN - OPUS4-52612 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir T1 - Slab track behaviour under train passage and hammer impact – Measurements at different sites and calculated track interaction with continuous soils N2 - This contribution intends to give an overview on the vibration behaviour of slab tracks in comparison of measurements and calculations and also by comparison of different track types at more than ten different measuring sites. In theory, tracks on continuous soil are calculated by the frequency-wavenumber domain method. In experiment, geophone measurements are transformed to displacement results. Two aspects of track behaviour are considered, the frequency-dependant compliance of the track, measured by hammer impact, and the deflection under a passing axle load. In theory, the response to a single axle can be calculated, whereas in experiment, only the passage of the whole train can be measured. For comparison of theory and experiment, the calculated deflection under a single axle is superposed to get the response of the whole train. As a result, the slab track characteristics are completely different from the ballast track characteristics where each axle can be seen in the time histories. The slab track has a more global behaviour where only a whole bogie can be found in the track response and moreover, the two neighbouring bogies are not completely separated. The measurement of the different track elements (rail, sleeper, track plate, base layer) and the frequency-dependant compliances with possible resonances yield further information About the properties of the track elements. The calculations show that the soil has the dominant influence on the amplitudes and the width of the track-plate displacements. In the measurement results, the following parameters are analysed: slab track vs. ballast track, different types of slab tracks, damaged slab tracks, different trains, switches at different measuring points, voided sleepers, an elastic layer, the mortar layer, and different soils at different places. Finally, a good agreement between measured and calculated results is found for the normal and some special (damaged, floating) slab tracks. KW - Slab track KW - Train passage KW - Hammer impact KW - Compliance function KW - Track deflection PY - 2020 UR - https://iiav.org/ijav/index.php?va=viewpage&vaid=177&id_number=95 DO - https://doi.org/10.20855/ijav.2020.25.31622 SN - 1027-5851 VL - 25 IS - 3 SP - 341 EP - 354 PB - International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration CY - Gliwice AN - OPUS4-51346 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Rohrmann, R. T1 - Natural frequencies and modes of poles, beams, floors, road and rail bridges N2 - In the last three decades, the vibrations of many floors and bridges have been measured. The contribution shows some evaluation methods, experimental results and some modelling and theoretical results. Simple evaluation methods have been developed for single and coupled floors. Two coupled beams have been measured in good agreement with the theory. A more complex coupling model has been found for a large wooden floor in a castle consisting of six floor bays which correlates well with the measurements. Damaged and intact poles have been tested by their natural frequencies and damping values, and a fair correlation between the degree of damage and the shift of the frequency. Road bridges have been analysed in detail and some examples are presented. Railway bridges and trains are studied for resonant excitation. The risk of resonance can be estimated in frequency domain by using axle-sequence spectra of the train and the natural frequencies of the bridge. A measurement example shows the amplification, but even stronger the cancellation of the subsequent axle responses. Several high-speed trains and freight trains have been analysed for their potential resonance amplification. T2 - International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering (ISMA/USD 2020) CY - Online meeting DA - 07.09.2020 KW - Modalanalyse KW - Bauwerke KW - Bauteile KW - Brücken KW - Achsfolgespektren PY - 2020 SP - 1573 EP - 1585 PB - KULeuven CY - Leuven AN - OPUS4-51211 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir T1 - Measurement of slab track behaviour at different sites N2 - Measured train passages and hammer impacts in combination with track-soil calculation have been successfully used for the detection of damaged slab tracks. This approach is now extended to intact slab and ballast tracks. The vibrations of many tracks have been measured at several levels from rail, sleeper, track plate, base plate, base layer to the subsoil by velocity or acceleration sensors. The time histories have to be integrated once or twice to get the displacements. The displacement signals include an arbitrary time-dependent shift which must be eliminated or respected in the interpretation. On the other hand, the calculation of slab and ballast tracks have been done in frequency-wavenumber domain. The displacements along the track and the frequency-dependent compliance transfer functions can be calculated. The latter can be compared with the results of the hammer impacts on the track. The deformation of the track can be transformed to time histories for a whole train and compared to the measured train passages. Many slab (and ballast) tracks have been measured at different sites. The displacements of the tracks are presented, and the following parameters have been analysed in the measurement results: slab track vs. ballast track, different types of slab tracks, damaged slab tracks, different trains, switches at different measuring points, an elastic layer, the mortar layer, different soils at different places. The soil should have the dominant influence on the track-plate displacements. Slab and ballast track yield also big differences in maximum displacement and width of deformation. Some of the preceding aspects will be analysed in comparison of measurement and theory. T2 - 26th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV26) CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 07.07.2019 KW - Displacements KW - Slab track KW - Train passage KW - Hammer impact KW - Vibration measurements PY - 2019 SN - 978-1-9991810-0-0 SN - 2329-3675 SP - T15RS01_316_1 EP - T15RS01_316_8 PB - Canadian Acoustical Association CY - Montreal, Kanad AN - OPUS4-48498 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Measurement of slab track behaviour at different sites N2 - Measured train passages and hammer impacts in combination with track-soil calculation have been successfully used for the detection of damaged slab tracks. This approach is now extended to intact slab and ballast tracks. The vibrations of many tracks have been measured at several levels from rail, sleeper, track plate, base plate, base layer to the subsoil by velocity or acceleration sensors. The time histories have to be integrated once or twice to get the displacements. The displacement signals include an arbitrary time-dependent shift which must be eliminated or respected in the interpretation. On the other hand, the calculation of slab and ballast tracks have been done in frequency-wavenumber domain. The displacements along the track and the frequency-dependent compliance transfer functions can be calculated. The latter can be compared with the results of the hammer impacts on the track. The deformation of the track can be transformed to time histories for a whole train and compared to the measured train passages. Many slab (and ballast) tracks have been measured at different sites. The displacements of the tracks are presented, and the following parameters have been analysed in the measurement results: slab track vs. ballast track, different types of slab tracks, damaged slab tracks, different trains, switches at different measuring points, an elastic layer, the mortar layer, different soils at different places. The soil should have the dominant influence on the track-plate displacements. Slab and ballast track yield also big differences in maximum displacement and width of deformation. Some of the preceding aspects will be analysed in comparison of measurement and theory. T2 - 26th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV26) CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 07.07.2019 KW - Displacements KW - Train passage KW - Slab track KW - Hammer impact KW - Vibration measurements PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48495 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -