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Eingeladener Vortrag
- nein (46)
Vibration of normal apartment, office and production buildings, which are excited by technically induced ground vibrations are considered. Many wavelengths of the Rayleigh waves of the soil fit into the foundation dimensions. The related high discretization effort can nowadays be realized with detailed soil-structure interaction method. The combined finite-element boundary-element method is used here as a detatiled method. Simplified method can be used with less computation time, but these methods must be calibrated by exact results. One simplification is to extent the structure to infinity and to solve the problem by wavenumber domain methods. Another simplification is the use of a Winkler soil instead of the continuous soil. Usually, the Winkler parameters are not only soil parameters but depend also on the rigid or flexible foundation structure. Substructure methods use commercial FEM software for the building part. The contribution will show some detailed and some simplified results on large structural elements such as foundation plates, walls, storey plates on columns as well as results on complete buildings. The reduction of the ground vibration by stiff elements and the amplification due to floor or building resonances are discussed which are the most important phenomena of the soil-building interaction.
A variety of isolation measures exists to reduce the vibration in the neighbourhood of railway lines. They can be roughly classified as elastic or stiffening systems. There are the following elastic elements, rail pads or resilient fixation systems between rail and sleeper, under sleeper pads or sleeper shoes under the sleepers, and ballast mats under the ballast. Stiffening systems (plates) are used as slab tracks, floating slab tracks, or mass-spring systems. In the EU project “Railway induced vibration abatement solutions (RIVAS)”, elastic under sleeper pads have been investigated. The dynamic behaviour of the track and the surrounding soil has been calculated by the combined finite-element boundary-element method in a systematic parameter study. It has been shown that the mitigation effect can be improved by soft under sleeper pads or by heavy sleepers. Consequently, such track elements (soft under sleeper pads and heavy sleepers) have been thoroughly investigated in laboratory tests to establish the static and dynamic parameters as well as their serviceability. Finally, field tests at and near railway tracks with and without under sleeper pads have been performed. To determine the reduction effect of the isolated track, the ground vibrations excited by trains or artificial sources have been measured. The soil properties at the different sites have also been measured so that the comparison of the isolated and un-isolated track can take into account possible differences of the soil parameters. The contribution shows how the different (numerical, laboratory and field) methods and results can be combined to achieve an improved mitigation solution with soft under sleeper pads and heavy sleepers for ballasted and slab tracks.
The train passages over intact or damaged slab tracks on different soils have been calculated by the finite-element boundary-element or the wavenumber-domain method. The influence of track and soil parameters on the distribution of the track displacements and the soil forces has been analysed. The measured and calculated displacement time histories of train passages could be used to identify track damages such as lose sleepers or a lose track plate. The time histories and spectra of the soil forces can explain the measured ground vibration reduction of slab tracks. The calculated displacement and force distributions of slab tracks on continuous soils do not fulfil the Winkler hypothesis and Winkler models should not be used for track analysis.
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.
Three measurement campaigns of train-induced ground vibrations are evaluated for the vehicle-track-soil interaction. Ground vibrations, track vibrations and vehicle vibrations have been measured for train passages and impulse excitation and compared with theoretical results.
The soil and the track-soil system are calculated by wavenumber integrals. The influence of the vehicle is introduced by a substructure method. By comparing theory and measurement the different components of excitation force and ground vibration can be analysed, the quasi-static excitation, track-alignment errors, the out-of-roundness of wheels, the wheel and rail roughness, and moreover, scattered axle impulses and ineffective high-frequency parts of the wheelset accelerations and forces.
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.
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.
Abstract. Three measurement campaigns of train-induced ground vibrations are evaluated for the vehicle-track-soil interaction. Ground vibrations, track vibrations and vehicle vibrations have been measured for train passages and impulse excitation and compared with theoretical results.
The soil and the track-soil system are calculated by wavenumber integrals. The influence of the vehicle is introduced by a substructure method. By comparing theory and measurement the different components of excitation force and ground vibration can be analysed, the quasi-static excitation, track-alignment errors, the out-of-roundness of wheels, the wheel and rail roughness, and moreover, scattered axle impulses and ineffective high-frequency parts of the wheelset accelerations and forces.
The present contribution evaluates four measuring series made by the Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing for the relations between train speed and ground vibration amplitudes. This experimental evaluation is supported by the simulation of the train passages at the different sites by using appropriate excitation mechanisms and forces as well as layered soil models which have been derived from impact measurements at each site.
The present contribution evaluates four measuring series made by the Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing for the relations between train speed and ground vibration amplitudes. This experimental evaluation is supported by the simulation of the train passages at the different sites by using appropriate excitation mechanisms and forces as well as layered soil models which have been derived from impact measurements at each site.
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.
A study on building vibrations has been performed by finite element calculations. Family houses, multi-storey residential buildings, office buildings and office towers have been modelled in detail. The frequency-dependent response due to a free-field excitation has been evaluated for walls, columns and floors. The ratio of building amplitudes to free-field amplitudes starts with uB/u0 = 1 at zero frequency and is usually lower than 1 at 50 Hz, the end of the frequency range considered here. In between, amplifications occur due to several reasons. There are „soil resonances“ where the whole building is vibrating on the compliant soil, “column resonances” where the upper storeys are vibrating on the compliant columns, and the “floor resonances” where the floors are vibrating excited by their supports. Results are presented for all building types, but a special focus is set on office buildings. A parameter study shows the influence of the stiffness of the soil, the number of storeys, and the width of the building. It has been found that the “soil resonance” is strongly modified by the low-frequency floor resonances for the normal office building. The main resonance of a twenty-storey office tower is determined equally by the “soil mode” and the “column mode”. It is an important observation for these office buildings that the resonances can differ for different parts of the building such as the centre, the edge, the corner, and the core of the building. This leads to non-uniform vibration modes across the building, which look like another type of “floor resonance” and which have been observed in several real building projects. Experimental results will be shown which can confirm the calculated phenomena.
A study on building vibrations has been performed by finite element calculations. Family houses, multi-storey residential buildings, office buildings and office towers have been modelled in detail. The frequency-dependent response due to a free-field excitation has been evaluated for walls, columns and floors. The ratio of building amplitudes to free-field amplitudes starts with uB/u0 = 1 at zero frequency and is usually lower than 1 at 50 Hz, the end of the frequency range considered here. In between, amplifications occur due to several reasons. There are „soil resonances“ where the whole building is vibrating on the compliant soil, “column resonances” where the upper storeys are vibrating on the compliant columns, and the “floor resonances” where the floors are vibrating excited by their supports. Results are presented for all building types, but a special focus is set on office buildings. A parameter study shows the influence of the stiffness of the soil, the number of storeys, and the width of the building. It has been found that the “soil resonance” is strongly modified by the low-frequency floor resonances for the normal office building. The main resonance of a twenty-storey office tower is determined equally by the “soil mode” and the “column mode”. It is an important observation for these office buildings that the resonances can differ for different parts of the building such as the centre, the edge, the corner, and the core of the building. This leads to non-uniform vibration modes across the building, which look like another type of “floor resonance” and which have been observed in several real building projects. Experimental results will be shown which can confirm the calculated phenomena.
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.
Many measurements of train induced ground vibrations show high amplitudes for a certain mid-frequency range. This ground vibration component cannot be well explained by dynamic loads of the train. Many characteristics indicate that the axle impulses, which are scattered by an irregular soil, are the excitation. This new understanding of railway-induced ground vibration is verified by numerical analysis. The response of the regular homogeneous and irregular inhomogeneous soils has been calculated by the finite-element method in frequency domain. A specific superposition of the impulse responses has been invented including time shift, axle sequence, track filter and hanning filter. The superposition 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 of which the stiffness varies randomly in space, the superposition yields a mid-frequency ground vibration component from the scattering of the axle impulses. The existence and the importance of this component can thus be demonstrated by the calculations. Some rules of the influence of distance, train speed, soil stiffness, strength and width of the stiffness variation have been derived from the calculations. Many measurements show the unique explanation of the mid-frequency ground vibration component by the scattered axle impulses.
Train passages induce forces on the track, train-induced vibrations propagate through the soil and excite neighbouring buildings. The emission, which is the first part of the prediction of vibrations near railway lines, is presented by focusing on the dynamic axle loads. The calculation of the axle loads is based on the vehicle-track-soil interaction. This interaction calculus utilises the dynamic stiffness of the vehicle (the inertia of the wheelset) and the dynamic stiffness of the track-soil system. Based on various time consuming finite-element boundary-element calculations, an approximate track-soil model has been established. The vehicle-track-soil analysis yields several transfer functions between the various geometric or stiffness irregularities and the axle loads of the train. Geometric irregularities of the vehicle (the wheels) and the track (rail surface and track alignment) are the simplest components. Geometric irregularities of the subsoil (trackbed irregularities) have to be transferred to effective irregularities at rail level. The bending stiffness of the track is filtering out the short-wavelength contribution. Stiffness irregularities occur due to random variations in the ballast or the subsoil, which must also be transferred to effective track irregularities, and due to the discrete rail support on sleepers. All necessary transfer functions for the prediction of axle-load spectra are presented as general formula and as specific graphs for differing vehicle and track parameters. The prediction method is applied to a ballast track and a slab track and compared with corresponding axle-box measurements. Moreover, ground vibration measurements at numerous sites are exploited for the axle-load spectra and the validation of the prediction method. All theoretical and experimental results confirm that the dynamic axle-load spectra have an approximate value of 1 kN per third of octave and increase with train speed, track stiffness and around the vehicle-track resonance.
The dynamic compliance of different railway tracks on different layered soils have been calculated using a combined finite-element and boundary-element method:
conventional track on homogeneous soil with different stiffness,
extreme normal and inverse layering of the soil,
plates in and on top of the soil (slab track on various soils),
conventional track with elastic rail pads.
The damage detection and repair control have become important tasks for ballast and slab tracks. Measurements which compare the damaged and the repaired status of the same track section at different times, or which compare a damaged and an intact track section at the same time, have been successfully performed at some sites in Germany. The loss of contact between the sleeper and the track plate, between the track plate and the base plate, and between the base plate and the base layer have been analysed. The soil properties of each site have been measured and have been used to establish realistic track-soil models. Theoretical results of the wavenumber domain and the finite-element boundary element method have been compared with the experimental results. The observed experimental and theoretical results, changes in the time histories of displacements and velocities due to train passages and in the transfer functions (receptances) due to hammer impacts, are encouraging that these measurements can be used to detect track damage.
Offshore wind energy towers are dynamically loaded by waves and wind. Pile foundations provide stiffness and damping and should be properly calculated. A combined finite-element boundary-element method for the dynamic interaction of flexible structures and the soil has been developed. The flexible structures such as single piles or complete wind energy towers are modeled by the finite element method whereas the homogeneous or layered soil is modeled by the boundary element method which uses the Green’s functions for interior loads in the layered half-space to establish the dynamic stiffness matrix of the soil. Soils with a stiffness that is continuously increasing with depth can be modeled as multi-layer soils with step-wise increasing stiffness. The effects of different parameters such as the stiffness of the soil, the axial and bending stiffness of the pile, and the radius of the cylindrical contact area will be analysed for the different components of excitation (vertical, horizontal, rotation and coupling). The results can be determined as specific power laws which are different for the different load cases and for the different soil models (Winkler support, homogeneous continuum, continuum with increasing stiffness). The dynamic effect of radiation damping will be analysed by the frequency-dependent compliance functions. A clear layering of the soil can cause noticeable changes in the dynamic compliances as reductions of the stiffness and the damping in certain frequency ranges (below and around layer resonance frequencies). The distribution of the displacements along the pile help to explain the observed laws. An example of an offshore wind energy tower has been modeled and calculated for wind, wave and weight loads. The resonances of the tower are usually limited by the radiation damping which is strongest for a soft soil.