MODEL TESTS ON PROPAGATION OF GROUND SURFACE VIBRATION AND EFFECTS OF RIGID VIBRATION-ISOLATING WALL

Vibration caused by trains traveling on viaduct propagates to the ground and this vibration sometimes give rise to vibration problems against people who live near the route. Especially, for speeding up of the Shinkansen, elucidation of this kind of wave propagation and countermeasures to damp the vibration become urgent matters. Vibration-isolating wall set in the ground is one of well-known countermeasures. Although studies through theory, experiments and analyses have been carried out, unified opinions for design have not been obtained yet. Therefore, model tests were conducted to confirm the effect of the vibration-isolating wall and to examine plane distribution of the vibration. The method of the model test and results obtained are reported in the paper. The effectiveness of the rigid vibration-isolating wall according to distance between the exciter and the edge of the wall was confirmed from the experiment. As a result, the effective length of the vibration-isolating wall to reduce the ground vibration are demonstrated.