Control of ground-borne noise and vibration

Ground-borne noise and vibration created by train operations is one of the major environmental problems faced by rail transit systems. In the past 10–20 years there have been a number of developments in the control and prediction of ground-borne noise and vibration although it is evident that further research is needed. In this paper the focus is on two methods of controlling the vibration radiated by the transit structure. First is the use of floating slab trackbeds, a method that has proven to be very effective at reducing vibration at frequencies above the resonance frequency of the floating slab system. Second is to modify the design of transit car bogies such that the wheel/rail forces are reduced. Although this method is still in the exploratory phase it has been shown that proper design of the bogie suspension can significantly reduce the levels of ground-borne noise and vibration.