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Web-Only Document 48: Ground-Borne Noise and Vibration in Buildings Caused by Rail Transit Transit Cooperative Research Program Jeffrey A. Zapfe Acentech Incorporated Cambridge, MA Hugh Saurenman ATS Consulting Los Angeles, CA Sanford Fidell Fidell Associates, Inc. Woodland Hills, CA Contractorâs Final Report for TCRP Project D-12 Submitted December 2009 TCRP
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation. It was conducted through the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, Transit Development Corporation, or AOC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This material has not been edited by TRB.
TCRP D-12 Final Report Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... viii Summary of Findings ....................................................................................................................1 Literature Review ...................................................................................................................1 Survey of Transit Systems ......................................................................................................2 Field Survey and Measurement Program ...............................................................................2 Results of Field Measurements ..............................................................................................3 Social Survey Findings ...........................................................................................................5 Application of Study Results ..................................................................................................5 1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................8 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................8 1.2 Project Scope ................................................................................................................9 1.3 Vibration Reference Quantities ..................................................................................10 1.4 Evaluation of Rail Transit Noise and Vibration in the United States .........................10 2. Literature Review ...............................................................................................................12 2.1 Vibration Descriptors ..................................................................................................13 2.1.1 Vibration Weighting Curves .......................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Vibration Metrics ........................................................................................... 18 2.2 Noise Descriptors ........................................................................................................22 2.3 Standards for Vibration and Noise .............................................................................25 2.4 Research on Human Response to Vibration ...............................................................27 2.4.1 Threshold of Perception and Equal Perception Contours .............................. 27 2.4.2 Combined Effects of Broadband Noise and Ground-Borne Vibration .......... 30 3. Transit System Survey .......................................................................................................35 3.1 Transit System Types .................................................................................................35 3.2 Survey Design .............................................................................................................35 3.3 Survey Findings ..........................................................................................................36 4. Social Survey Design ..........................................................................................................39 4.1 Approach to Social Survey .........................................................................................39 4.2 Survey Cities ...............................................................................................................39 4.3 Overview of Test Program ..........................................................................................39 4.4 Site Selection and Definition ......................................................................................42 4.4.1 Construction of Sampling Frames ................................................................. 43 4.4.2 Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 43 5. Field Measurements ...........................................................................................................44 5.1 Measurement Overview ..............................................................................................44 5.2 Residential Measurement Location Selection ............................................................45 5.3 Field Measurement Procedures ...................................................................................47 5.3.1 Instrumentation .............................................................................................. 47 5.3.2 Measurement Approach ................................................................................. 47 5.3.3 Field Log Sheets and Field Crew ................................................................... 51 5.4 Data Analysis Procedures ...........................................................................................51 5.4.1 Initial Processing ........................................................................................... 51 5.4.2 Secondary Processing .................................................................................... 53
TCRP D-12 Final Report ii 5.4.3 Quality Assurance/Quality Control ............................................................... 55 5.5 Measurement Overview ..............................................................................................56 5.5.1 Relationships between Indoor Sound, Indoor Vibration and Outdoor Vibration ........................................................................................................ 56 5.5.2 Relationships between Metrics ...................................................................... 60 5.5.3 Vibration Spectra ........................................................................................... 65 5.5.3.1 Comparison of Vibration Spectral Shapes ...................................... 65 5.5.3.2 Outdoor to Indoor Adjustments ....................................................... 75 5.6 Interpolation Procedure ..............................................................................................85 5.7 Summary of Measurement Observations ....................................................................87 6. Analyses of Questionnaire Responses ...............................................................................89 6.1 Narrative Account of Findings of Social Survey ........................................................89 6.2 Overview of Reports of Annoyance ...........................................................................92 6.3 Relationship between Vibration Levels and Questionnaire Response Items .............99 6.4 Estimating Vibration Levels in the Homes of Varying Percentages of Respondents Affected by Rail Vibration .......................................................................................103 6.5 Logistic Regression Models to Predict Response Due to Train Passbys ..................104 6.5.1 Probability of Notice .................................................................................... 105 6.6 Predicting Moderate or Greater Annoyance with Train Passbys ..............................108 7. Study Implications Related to Current Noise and Vibration Criteria ........................110 7.1 Study Limitations ......................................................................................................110 7.2 Vibration Measures ...................................................................................................110 7.3 Relationship to Current Vibration Criteria ...............................................................112 7.4 Relationship to Current Ground-Borne Noise Criteria .............................................114 7.5 Location of Application of Criteria ..........................................................................116 7.6 Summary of Study Findings with Respect to Current Criteria .................................116 7.7 Criteria for Sensitive Equipment ..............................................................................116 7.7.1 Vibration Criteria for Sensitive Equipment ................................................. 116 7.7.2 Acoustic Criteria for Sensitive Equipment .................................................. 118 7.8 Implementation Plan .................................................................................................120 8. Suggested Additional Work .............................................................................................121 References ...................................................................................................................................122 Appendix A: Interview Areas and Measurement Location Summary Appendix B: Interview Questionnaire Items Appendix C: Field Log Sheets Appendix D: Summary of Standards for Ground-borne Noise and Vibration Appendix E: Transit Agency Noise and Vibration Survey Questions Appendix F: Problem Statements for Potential Future Work
TCRP D-12 Final Report iii List of Figures Figure 1: Acceleration Weighting Curves .................................................................................... 15 Figure 2: Weighting Curves in Terms of Velocity ....................................................................... 15 Figure 3: Normalized Velocity Weighting Curves ....................................................................... 16 Figure 4: Typical Vibration Spectra from Train Operations ........................................................ 17 Figure 5: Example of Statistical Maximum Velocity (BART data at 7.6 m) ............................... 21 Figure 6: Common Weighting Networks Used for Assessing Airborne Sound Impacts ............. 24 Figure 7: Noise Levels and Percentages Highly Annoyed in MSP and LAX Surveys ................ 25 Figure 8: National Limits for Rail Transit Vibration .................................................................... 27 Figure 9: Results of Experimental Measurements of Perception Threshold ................................ 28 Figure 10: Equal Vibration Perception Contours Compared to Perception Threshold ............... 29 Figure 11: Annoyance Response of Survey Respondents ............................................................ 33 Figure 12: Estimated Cumulative Degrees of Annoyance ............................................................ 33 Figure 13: Test Area for MBTA Blue Line (Boston) ................................................................... 42 Figure 14: New York Grid Measurement Points .......................................................................... 46 Figure 15: Configuration of Field Measurements ......................................................................... 48 Figure 16: Typical Residential Measurement Setup ..................................................................... 49 Figure 17: Typical Exterior Measurement Setup .......................................................................... 49 Figure 18: Typical Grid Measurement Setup ................................................................................ 50 Figure 19: Typical Reference Measurement Setup ....................................................................... 50 Figure 20: Example of Event Screening for Corrupted Data ........................................................ 52 Figure 21: Example of Direction-Dependent Vibration Spectra .................................................. 53 Figure 22: Relationships between Indoor and Outdoor Measurements ........................................ 59 Figure 23: Relationship between Site Average Outdoor Lmax and Leq ...................................... 61 Figure 24: Relationship between Un-weighted and Weighted Velocity Levels ........................... 62 Figure 25: Relationship between Leq Acceleration and Velocity Levels ..................................... 62 Figure 26: Relationship between A-weighted and Un-weighted Velocity Level ......................... 63 Figure 27: Comparison of RMQ and RMS Exposure ................................................................... 65 Figure 28: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Toronto Outdoor Measurement Sites ............... 68 Figure 29: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, New York Outdoor Measurement Sites ........... 69 Figure 30: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Boston Blue Line Outdoor Sites ...................... 70 Figure 31: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Boston Back Bay Outdoor Sites ...................... 71 Figure 32: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Dallas Outdoor Measurement Sites ................. 72 Figure 33: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Sacramento Outdoor Measurement Sites ......... 73 Figure 34: Average Vibration Velocity Spectra, Outdoor Measurement Sites ............................ 74 Figure 35: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, Toronto ...................................................... 77 Figure 36: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, New York .................................................. 78 Figure 37: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, Boston ........................................................ 79 Figure 38: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, Dallas ......................................................... 80 Figure 39: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, Sacramento ................................................ 81 Figure 40: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, All Sites ..................................................... 82 Figure 41: Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences for Each Transit System ............................. 83 Figure 42: Comparison of Average Outdoor-to-Indoor Differences, using Different Data Thresholds ..................................................................................................................................... 84 Figure 43: Comparison of Indoor Vibration and Sound in Three New York Residences ............ 85 Figure 44: Sample Residence Interpolation Calculation .............................................................. 86
TCRP D-12 Final Report iv Figure 45: Calculated Vibration Exposure at D-12 Residences based on Vibration Level .......... 88 Figure 46: Dosage-Response Relationships for Noise .................................................................. 89 Figure 47: Percentages of Respondents Reporting Annoyance .................................................... 94 Figure 48: New York Respondents Reporting High Annoyance .................................................. 95 Figure 49: Sacramento Gold Line Respondents Reporting High Annoyance .............................. 96 Figure 50: Sacramento Blue Line Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ............................... 96 Figure 51: Dallas Blue Line Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ....................................... 97 Figure 52: Dallas Red Line Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ........................................ 97 Figure 53: Toronto Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ..................................................... 98 Figure 54: Boston Back Bay Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ...................................... 98 Figure 55: Boston Blue Line Respondents Reporting High Annoyance ...................................... 99 Figure 56: Vibration Levels for 421 Respondents who Noticed Train Passbys ......................... 100 Figure 57: Vibration Levels for 314 Respondents Annoyed to Any Degree by Train Passbys . 101 Figure 58: Vibration Levels for 125 Respondents Moderately or More Greatly Annoyed by Train Passbys ........................................................................................................................................ 101 Figure 59: Vibration Levels for 67 Respondents Highly Annoyed by Train Passbys ................ 102 Figure 60: Vibration Levels for 86 Respondents Awakened by Train Passbys ......................... 102 Figure 61: Vibration Levels for 42 Respondents who had Complained about Train Passbys ... 103 Figure 62: Predicted Probability of Noticing a Train Passby as a Function of Distance from the Alignment ................................................................................................................................... 106 Figure 63: Probability of Notice Based on A-weighted (LeqA) and Un-weighted Passby Vibration Velocity Level (LeqF) ................................................................................................ 107 Figure 64: Probability of Annoyance Based on Un-weighted Passby Vibration Velocity Level (LeqF) ......................................................................................................................................... 109 Figure 65: Probability of Annoyance Based on Passby Maximum Vibration Velocity Level ... 113 Figure 66: FICON's (36) Dosage-Effect Relationship ................................................................ 113 Figure 67: Probability of Annoyance Based on Passby Band-Maximum Vibration Velocity Level ........................................................................................................................................... 114 Figure 68: Probability of Annoyance Based on Passby Maximum A-weighted Vibration Velocity Level ........................................................................................................................................... 115 Figure 69: Generic Vibration Criterion Curves .......................................................................... 117 Figure 70: Acoustical Criteria for JEOL and FEI Electron Microscopes ................................... 119
TCRP D-12 Final Report v List of Tables Table 1: Vibration Velocity Conversion Table ............................................................................. 10 Table 2: FTA Ground-Borne Vibration (GBV) and Ground-Borne Noise (GBN) Impact Criteria for General Assessment ................................................................................................................ 11 Table 3: FTA Ground-Borne Vibration Noise Impact Criteria for Special Buildings ................. 11 Table 4: Weighted Acceleration Metrics for Representative Train Spectra ................................. 18 Table 5: Comparison of v95 and Average Vibration Level for Typical Transit Vibration Levels 20 Table 6: Standardized Frequency-Weighted Sound Levels .......................................................... 23 Table 7: Comparison of Annoyance Response Based on Numbers of Trains .............................. 31 Table 8: Transit Agency Survey Recipients ................................................................................. 37 Table 9: Transit Agency Survey Findings .................................................................................... 38 Table 10: Test System Operational Parameters ............................................................................ 41 Table 11: Number of Trains per Day during Daytime and Nighttime Hours ............................... 41 Table 12: Interview and Measurement Summary ......................................................................... 42 Table 13: Instrumentation Summary ............................................................................................ 47 Table 14: Summary of Site-Level Measurement Metrics ............................................................. 55 Table 15: Overall Vibration and Noise Levels Measured at Residences ...................................... 58 Table 16: Average Event Duration ............................................................................................... 63 Table 17: Duration Respondents had Lived at Present Address (Item 1) ..................................... 90 Table 18: Number of Survey Respondents Reporting Annoyance ............................................... 93 Table 19: Number of Respondents Reporting being Awakened in Previous Year ....................... 93 Table 20: Means and Standard Deviations of Vibration Velocity Levels for Respondents Reporting Various Effects of Train Passbys ............................................................................... 103 Table 21: Equations for Estimating Percentages of the Current Sample Reporting Various Effects of Train Passbys .......................................................................................................................... 104 Table 22: Z-scores Corresponding to Cumulative Percentages of Cases (areas under the Gaussian distribution up to the tabled percentage) ..................................................................................... 104 Table 23: Primary Vibration Metrics used for Logistic Regression Prediction Equations ......... 105 Table 24: Logistic Regression Coefficients to Predict Probability of Notice ............................. 106 Table 25: Logistic Regression Coefficients to Predict Probability of High Annoyance and Moderate or Greater Annoyance ................................................................................................. 109 Table 26: FTA-equivalent Logistic Regression Coefficients to Predict Probability of High Annoyance and Moderate or Greater Annoyance ....................................................................... 112 Table 27: Generic Vibration Criteria for Sensitive Equipment and Facilities ............................ 118
