TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - A mid-frequency component of train-induced ground vibration due to scattered axle impulses and the irregularities of the soil and ballast N2 - The passage of the train is dominated by the impulses of the static axle loads. The response of the regular homogeneous and irregular soils has been calculated by the finite-element method in frequency domain. The superposition of the impulse responses yields the quasi-static component of the ground vibration which is restricted to very low frequencies and to the close near-field of the track. In case of an irregular soil or ballast of which the stiffness varies randomly in space, a mid-frequency ground vibration component is generated by the scattering of the axle impulses. Measurements will be shown which prove the existence of the mid-frequency ground vibration component and the unique explanation by the scattered axle impulses: many international measurements with a raised mid-frequency component, axle-box measurements with a too low mid-frequency dynamic load, amplitude-speed dependencies which are incompatible with irregularity-induced dynamic loads, and ground vibration reductions due to stiff track elements. T2 - International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering (ISMA/USD) CY - Online meeting DA - 07.09.2020 KW - Ground vibration KW - Railway KW - Irregular soil KW - Irregular ballast KW - Axle impulses PY - 2020 SP - 2611 EP - 2625 PB - KULeuven CY - Leuven AN - OPUS4-51210 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Mitigation of railway-induced ground vibration by soft support elements and a higher bending stiffness of the track N2 - The mitigation of train-induced ground vibrations by track solutions is investigated by calculations and measurements. The calculation by a wavenumber domain method includes the correct vehicle–track interaction and the correct track–soil interaction. Some theoretical results for elastic elements and an increased bending stiffness of the track are presented where the force transfer of the track and the vehicle–track interaction are calculated for the high-frequency dynamic mitigation, and the force distribution along the track is calculated for the low-frequency mitigation which is due to the smoother impulses from the passing static loads. Measurement results for the ground vibration near isolated and un-isolated tracks are given for several under-sleeper pads, for under-ballast mats, and for several under-ballast plates and ballast troughs. The elastic elements yield a resonance frequency of the vehicle–track–soil system and a high-frequency reduction of the dynamic axle loads which depends mainly on the softness of the pads or mats and which can be improved by a higher sleeper mass. In addition, all troughs and most of the soft elements show a low-frequency reduction which is attributed to the scattered impulses of the static axle loads. Besides this main contribution of the article, the problem of a soft reference section on a different soil is discussed and recommendations for better ground vibration measurements of mitigation effects are given. KW - Railway track KW - Elastic elements KW - Bending stiffness KW - Ground vibration KW - Mitigation KW - Lowfrequency reduction KW - Axle impulses PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-612568 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031244 VL - 14 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-61256 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - The dynamic train-track interaction on a bridge and in a tunnel compared with the simultaneous vehicle, track, and ground vibration measurements at a surface line N2 - The vehicle–track interaction generates forces and consequently vibrations in the environment. The interaction has been analysed by the simultaneous measurements of vehicle, track and ground vibrations during test runs with varied train speeds. The special effects of the passage over a bridge and through a tunnel are studied and compared with the measurements on a conventional ballasted surface line. The maximum amplitudes, narrow band and one-third octave band spectra are presented for the axle-box accelerations and for the track, bridge and ground vibrations. The different frequencies and frequency bands are related to wheel out-of-roundness, track alignment errors, the sleeper passage and the wheelset–track resonance. An axle impulse component has been observed at the track, at the near-field soil and as a scattered version in the far field. Specific results can be found for the bridge track, where clearly speed-dependent bridge resonances occur due to the axle sequence of the train, and for the tunnel track where soft rail pads are responsible for a strong amplification around the wheelset–track resonance. On the other hand, the axle impulses are strongly reduced by the tunnel track, and the scattered axle impulse component is not as relevant as for the surface track. As a consequence, a strong mid-frequency amplitude reduction of the tunnel compared to the surface line has been measured for low and high train speeds by the Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing (BAM) and by other institutes. KW - Vehicle–track interaction KW - Ground vibration KW - Tunnel-to-surface reduction KW - Bridge resonance KW - Axle sequence PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-585139 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/app131910992 VL - 13 IS - 19 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-58513 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Characteristic Frequencies of Train-Induced Bridge, Track, Ground and Building Vibrations – Excitation and Mitigation N2 - The characteristic frequencies of train-induced vibrations are discussed in theory and experiment following the propagation of vibrations from the source to the receiver: 1. Out-of-roundness frequencies of the wheels, 2. sleeper-passage frequency, 3. the vehicle-track eigenfrequency, 4. band frequency of the impulses of the passing static axle loads, 5. car-length frequency and multiples, 6. axle-distance frequencies with two characteristic zeros, 7. bridge eigenfrequencies, 8. the cut-on frequency due to the layering, and 9. the cut-off frequency due to the material damping of the soil, 10. the building-soil eigenfrequency, 11. as a rigid building or flexible wall/column mode, 12. floor eigenfrequencies, 13. acoustic room resonances, 14. the „resonance“ frequency or cut-off frequency of a base isolation. Coincidences of some of these characteristic frequencies or frequency ranges can be typically problematic and mitigation measures at the track or at the building can be necessary. The bridge response to the passing static loads is deter¬mined by the axle-sequence spectrum, the eigenfrequency (transfer function) of the bridge, and the modal force or mode shape spectrum. The ground vibration has typically high frequencies for a stiff soil and low frequencies for a soft soil. The high amplitudes between the zeros of the axle-sequence spectrum are often measured in the ground vibrations, and they can be mitigated by soft support elements or a higher bending stiffness of the track. T2 - EVACES 2025 CY - Porto, Portugal DA - 02.07.2025 KW - Train-induced vibration KW - Vehicle excitation KW - Track response KW - Bridge resonance KW - Ground vibration KW - Soil-building transfer KW - Floor resonance KW - Axle-sequence spectrum KW - Vehicle-track eigenfrequency KW - Axle impulses PY - 2025 SN - 978-3-031-96113-7 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96106-9_77 VL - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Springer CY - Cham, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-63655 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -