Filtern
Dokumenttyp
- Zeitschriftenartikel (12) (entfernen)
Sprache
- Englisch (12)
Schlagworte
- Ground vibration (12) (entfernen)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 7 Bauwerkssicherheit (4)
- 7.2 Ingenieurbau (4)
Excitation force spectra are necessary for a realistic prediction of railway-induced ground vibration. The excitation forces cause the ground vibration and they are themselves a result of irregularities passed by the train. The methods of the related analyses - the wavenumber integration for the wave propagation in homogeneous or layered soils, the combined finite-element boundary-element method for the vehicle-track-soil interaction - have already been presented and are the base for the advanced topic of this contribution. This contribution determines excitation force spectra of railway traffic by two completely different methods. The forward analysis starts with vehicle, track and soil irregularities, which are taken from literature and axle-box measurements, calculates the vehicle-track interaction and gets theoretical force spectra as the result. The second method is a backward analysis from the measured ground vibration of railway traffic. A calculated or measured transfer function of the soil is used to determine the excitation force spectrum of the train. A number of measurements of different soils and different trains with different speeds are analysed in that way. Forward and backward analysis yield the same approximate force spectra with values around 1 kN for each axle and third of octave.
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 vehicletrack 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.
The vibrations of soil and foundations are demonstrated for different types of loading. Train-induced ground vibrations are studied in a measurement campaign where a test train has run with regularly varied speeds. The measured train-induced soil vibration at 2 to 100 m distance from the track is compared with the wave propagation due to hammer excitation and with the theoretical wave field. The strong influence of the soil and the train speed on the amplitudes and frequencies of the vibration has been analysed for passages of the locomotive and the carriages. - The generation of ground vibration by strong explosions has been studied on a large testing area with sandy soil. The propagating waves were measured in a regular grid of measuring points in 10 to 1000 m. Therefore, the dominance of certain waves at certain distances and the changes of compressional waves and Rayleigh waves could clearly be observed. The results are compared with impulse hammer measurements in the range of 5 to 50 m. - A drop test facility has been built on the testing area of the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM). Heavy masses (containers) of up to 200 t can be dropped from 10 m height on a big reinforced concrete foundation. The foundation was instrumented by accelerometers, strain gauges and pressure cells to give information about the loading condition and by geophones to measure the vibration of the surrounding soil and building. Both excitation processes, the release of the mass and the impact, produce high vibration amplitudes. On a smaller drop foundation, the influence of the drop height and the target stiffness has been studied more systematically.
This contribution presents some principles and some examples of the mitigation of railway-induced ground vibrations. The principles are different for the mitigation measures at the track, in the soil or at the building. Force transfer functions of isolated and un-isolated track-soil systems, reflected and transmitted wave amplitudes at walls and trenches in the soil, and the transfer of the (free-field) vibration amplitudes to the foundation amplitudes of the building are analysed. The mitigation effect can be calculated by exact or simplified formulas. Some examples with 3D (finite-element boundary-element), 2D (beam-on-support), and 1D track models, 2D and 1D soil models, detailed 3D building models and finite or infinite 1D wall-floor models are investigated to find out if simple models can be used for a satisfactory prediction of the mitigation effect. The 1D track examples show that the force transfer of the track without vehicle can be exactly calculated, whereas the total force transfer can be calculated approximately if appropriate wheelset masses per track length are used for the isolated and the un-isolated track. The mitigation effect of a filled trench is calculated by a 2D finite element model and the results compare with simple transmission formula if the stiffness per area rather than the wave impedances are used for the infill material. The base isolation of a building is analysed by a detailed 3D model and the results are similar to the analytic results of a single wall with floors on the soil. Other reduction measures as different floor and column dimensions are usually less effective so that the clearly best mitigation solution at a building is a partly or a complete base isolation.
Measurements on the vehicle-track interaction and the excitation of railway-induced ground vibration
(2017)
Two railway measurement campaigns have been performed in Germany and Switzerland which yield insight in the vehicle-track-soil interaction. The campaign in Germany has included simultaneous measurement of vehicle, track, and soil vibrations during train runs with 16, 25, 40, 63, 80, 100, 125, 140, 160 km/h, and impulse measurements of the passenger car, three track sections and the soil. Two ballast tracks, one on the soil surface and one on a concrete bridge, have been investigated as well as a slab track in a tunnel. Ten different sites in Switzerland have been measured for soil properties and train-induced ground vibrations, which allow to determine the excitation forces of the railway traffic. New axle-box measurements at some of the Swiss sites have been analysed to get further experimental evidence. All these measurements have been evaluated to characterize the excitation processes. Relations between vehicle vibration and ground vibration can be observed. The vehicle vibrations, namely the accelerations of the wheelsets, yield the dynamic forces due to the passage over the irregularities of the vehicle and the track. The ground vibrations are correlated to these dynamic forces to a certain extent. Some mid-frequency ground vibration amplitudes, however, are higher than expected from the dynamic excitation forces. The experimental observations can be explained by an irregular response to the passage of the static loads, that means the passage of the static loads over an irregular ballast or soil. This correct understanding of the excitation processes is important for the prediction as well as for the mitigation of railway induced ground vibrations.
Ground vibrations created by running high-speed trains at speeds between 100 and 320 km/h are calculated in detail using transfer functions to model the effects of the moving loads. These transfer functions for layered soils are obtained by integration in the wavenumber domain. The train-induced vibrations in a soil that is considered to consist of single layers of two slightly different soils are analysed for different excitations: for their spectra, attenuation laws and amplitude-speed relations. An important mid-frequency component is shifted through the cut-on region of the layered soil with an increase in the train speed. The cut-on frequency divides the response of the layered soil into a low-frequency low-amplitude range and a high-frequency high-amplitude range. This leads to completely different train speed dependencies for the two soil layers with strongly increasing amplitudes around the cut-on frequency and almost constant amplitudes beyond this frequency. All calculated results closely agree with ground vibration measurements at two corresponding sites, especially if the mid-frequency component is calculated by axle impulses.
The dynamics of slab tracks and floating slab tracks are analyzed by multibeam models for the track and by integration in the wave-number domain for the soil, which is modeled as a layered half-space. Frequency-dependent compliances and force transfers are calculated for a great variety of track and soil parameters. The distribution of the load and the displacements along the track is investigated as well as the wave propagation perpendicular to the track and the ground vibration amplitudes. The floating slab track has a dominating plate-mat resonance and a strong high-frequency reduction. A track-soil resonance can also be recognized for an unisolated slab track in the case of layered soils. Generally, there is a strong damping of the track by the soil. The reduction effect of the slab mat is mainly owing to the elimination of this strong damping. The continuous soil yields slightly different rules for the displacements and force densities than those of a Winkler support. The total force transfer from the rail to the soil is the best criterion to judge the effectiveness of a floating slab track in reducing the ground vibration at some distance from the railway line. The total force transfer is easier to calculate than the double Fourier integrals of the ground vibration amplitudes, namely in the far field, and it has the best correlation with the reduction of the ground vibration.
A complex measuring campaign has been performed including the simultaneous measurement of vehicle, track, and soil vibrations during train runs at 16, 25, 40, 63, 80, 100, 125, 140, 160 km/h, and impulse measurements of the passenger car, three track sections and the soil. A ballast track on the soil surface and on a concrete bridge have been investigated as well as a slab track in a tunnel. The evaluation and comparison of all these data shows a generally good agreement for all components if the strong low- and high-frequency cut-off characteristics of the layered and damped soil are incorporated. There is a strong causal correlation between the vehicle and the soil by the dynamic excitation forces and a weak relation between the track and the soil by the axle-sequence spectrum of the train. However, the similarity between the axle-impulse spectrum observed at the track and the spectra of the ground vibration lead to the special excitation component of “scattered axle impulses” which is pre-dominant at the far-field points of the soil.
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.
A simple and fast prediction scheme is presented for train induced ground and building vibrations. Simple models such as (1-dimensional) transfer matrices are used for the vehicle-track-soil interaction and for the building-soil interaction. The wave propagation through layered soils is approximated by a frequency-dependent homogeneous half-space. The prediction is divided into the parts “emission” (excitation by railway traffic), “transmission” (wave propagation through the soil) and “immission” (transfer into a building). The link between the modules is made by the excitation force between emission and transmission, and by the free-field vibration between transmission and immission. All formula for the simple vehicle-track, soil and building models are given in this article. The behaviour of the models is demonstrated by typical examples, that is the mitigation of train vibrations by elastic track elements, the low- and high-frequency cut-offs characteristic for layered soils, and the interacting soil, wall and floor resonances of multi-storey buildings. It is shown that the results of the simple prediction models can well represent the behaviour of the more time-consuming detailed models, the finite-element boundary-element models of the track, the wavenumber integrals for the soil, and the three-dimensional finite-element models of the building. In addition, measurement examples are given for each part of the prediction confirming that the methods provide reasonable results. As the prediction models are fast in calculation, many predictions can be done, for example to assess the environmental effect along a new railway line. The simple models have the additional advantage that the user needs to know only a minimum of parameters. So, the prediction is fast and user-friendly, but also theoretically and experimentally well-founded.
Ground vibrations near railway lines are generated by the forces that are acting between wheel and rail. It seems to be a straight forward assumption that the vehicle dynamics are important for the level and the frequencies of the excitation forces. Different vehicle dynamics phenomena are analysed for their role in the excitation of ground vibrations: rigid body modes of the bogies, elastic (bending) modes of the car body, and elastic modes of the wheelset. The theoretical analyses use rigid body models, simplified elastic models, and detailed elastic models. Some of these problems are vehicle–track interaction problems where 3D finite‑element boundary‑element models have been used for the track and soil. It is shown that the rigid or flexible vehicle modes are well in the frequency range of ground vibrations (4 to 100 Hz). They have an influence on the excitation force but the additional forces are rather small and can be neglected in ground vibration prediction. The theoretical results are checked by experimental results of a simultaneous measurement of vehicle,
track, and ground vibrations.
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.