Improved analysis of ground vibrations produced by man-made sources

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 616-617; pp. 517 - 530
• Main Authors: Ainalis, Daniel, Ducarne, Loïc, Kaufmann, Olivier, Tshibangu, Jean-Pierre, Verlinden, Olivier, Kouroussis, Georges
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-03-2018
• Subjects: Blast-induced ground vibrations; Continuous wavelet transform; Ground vibrations; Time-frequency analysis; Traffic-induced ground vibrations; Time-frequency analysis; Ground vibrations; Traffic-induced ground vibrations; Blast-induced ground vibrations; Continuous wavelet transform
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.291

Man-made sources of ground vibration must be carefully monitored in urban areas in order to ensure that structural damage and discomfort to residents is prevented or minimised. The research presented in this paper provides a comparative evaluation of various methods used to analyse a series of tri-axial ground vibration measurements generated by rail, road, and explosive blasting. The first part of the study is focused on comparing various techniques to estimate the dominant frequency, including time-frequency analysis. The comparative evaluation of the various methods to estimate the dominant frequency revealed that, depending on the method used, there can be significant variation in the estimates obtained. A new and improved analysis approach using the continuous wavelet transform was also presented, using the time-frequency distribution to estimate the localised dominant frequency and peak particle velocity. The technique can be used to accurately identify the level and frequency content of a ground vibration signal as it varies with time, and identify the number of times the threshold limits of damage are exceeded.
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•Study of ground vibrations due to blasting, rail, and road traffic•Comparative evaluation of dominant frequency estimation methods undertaken•Benefits of using time-frequency distributions investigated•Improved localised approach presented to analyse complex ground vibrations