Dynamics in construction and transportation

Measurement and calculation of the vibration of a 25-storey office building due to railway traffic

The main area of expertise is ground-borne vibration and all related questions: The excitation of vibration, the wave propagation through the soil and the transfer from the soil to the building. Concerning the excitation, there is a lot of experience about construction work, pile driving, road and rail traffic. The ground-borne vibration due to these different sources have been measured for many cases. Special experiments are performed to determine the properties of the soil, namely the speed of wave propagation. Concerning the immission in buildings, the vibration characteristics of very different buildings - from single-storey residential buildings to high-rise office towers – are calculated by detailed finite-element or simplified models and checked by measurements. Elements, materials and complete solutions for the reduction of vibrations are investigated for machine foundations, railway tracks and buildings.

Methods

• Geomechanical and geophysical methods for important soil properties
• Measurement and evaluation of ground-borne vibration
• In-situ tests of soils, foundations and structural elements by impulsive and vibratory excitation
• Prediction programme for ground-borne vibration
• Reduction of vibration by means of elastic or stiff elements
• Wave propagation through the soil – calculation and experimental verification
• Calculation of the structure-soil and the track-soil interaction
• Dynamics of high-speed trains
• Calculation of railway tracks and components as slab tracks, ballast mats and elastic rail pads
• Consultant work on impact problems (container – foundation, ship – bridge)

Testing facilities of this Working Group

Test rig for model foundation
Fully equipped truck for dynamic measurements.

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