Experimental study of railway traffic induced environmental vibrations

The vibration characteristics of ground and a building induced by railway traffic are studied through two field experiments. The experimental results show that both ground vibration and structural vibration of the building are of low frequency properties; The vertical vibrations are higher than the horizontal ones; The variety with the floor elevation of the horizontal and the vertical vibrations shows very complex zigzag trends; The horizontal vibrations of the building show the same importance with the vertical ones, and cannot be neglected; The nearer the railway track is to the receivers or building, the more obvious the relevance of the ground acceleration curve and the train excitation becomes, and the larger the ground or building vibrations will be. In the planning and designing of railway traffic, the minimum distance between the railway tracks and buildings should be strictly controlled.