TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz 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 - Railways Conference CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 02.09.2024 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 AN - OPUS4-61226 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 - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Vehicle-Track-Soil Interaction of Isolated, Un-isolated and Damaged Railway Tracks N2 - This article deals with two topics of vehicle-track-soil interaction, the mitigation of railway induced ground vibration by soft track elements, and the identification of track damage. Theoretical results have been achieved by a combined finite-element boundary-element method (FEBEM). The theoretical results are confronted with measurements at four sites. Improved mitigation effects have been found for soft rail pads under heavy sleepers. The insertion loss, however, can be too optimistic if a strong vehicle track resonance occurs for the un-isolated reference track. Two measurement sites show this strong vehicle-track resonance at about 80 Hz, which has been approximated by using the results of a wide parameter study including the rail pad, ballast, and soil stiffness, as well as the ballast model and the soil layering. – The detection of slab track damage is mainly based on the differences of the receptance or compliance functions. Theoretical results have been confirmed by measurements at one site where a loss of contact between track plate and base layer was visible. Measurements at a second site with a hidden damage have been compared with the theoretical results of a loose sleeper. The differences between intact (or repaired) and damaged tracks are strong enough to encourage the further development of this method for the identification of track damages. KW - Railway track KW - Track-soil interaction KW - Ground vibration KW - Mitigation KW - Under-sleeper pads KW - Track damage monitoring PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.4203/ijrt.6.3.2 SN - 2049-5358 VL - 2 IS - 20 SP - 21 EP - 49 PB - Saxe-Coburg Publications CY - London AN - OPUS4-51257 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -