Vibration reduction by landscape shaping at high-tech facility.

Abstract in Undetermined
This paper presents a numerical study on the reduction of vibrations in the ground. The influence of landscape shaping to reduce vibration levels induced by traffic is investi-gated by means of the finite element method with dynamic analyses. Both two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional finite element models are employed for the investigations. A har-monic point force is applied where the force is scaled to represent the frequency dependent traffic load. Finally, the vibration reduction effect is evaluated by comparing RMS-values at a number of different evaluation points. It is concluded from the analyses that the two-dimensional and three-dimensional models correlates fairly well. The performance of a hill is increased if it is preceded by a valley but when applying more valleys than hills, amplification may occur. When using continuous hills instead of a checkered pattern, the hills seem to cap-ture and guide waves in the direction of the hill. Locally this could reduce vibrations of sig-nificant importance. Applying the constraints given within the numerical example, vibration reductions of approximately 20 % could be seen.