Field Tests and Simulation of Ground and Building Vibrations Caused by Metros on an Elevated Bridge

The vibration induced by metros is having a growing impact on people’s daily work and life. This paper proposes a propagation rule and an evaluation method for vibration based on experimental data on the ground and inside a 4-story building subjected to trains running on an elevated bridge in Guangzhou, China. This paper discusses the propagation characteristics of the vibration wave in different directions on the ground and inside the building. Then, a vibration level attenuation model of an elevated bridge section of Guangzhou was built using a linear regression method. Moreover, a finite-element model of a test building was built to study the influence of the building structure on the building vibration response. The results reveal that vertical vibrations are much larger than the horizontal vibrations on the ground and inside the building near the elevated bridge. This paper found a rebound acceleration area at a distance of 10–15 m away from the bridge. Inside the four-story building, the acceleration levels increased gradually with increasing floor level. Slab thickness had little effect on the vibration and the story height of the building along the elevated bridge should be limited to below 3.7 m. Moreover, proper column size can effectively reduce building vibrations.