In-situ measurement of railway-traffic induced vibrations nearby the liquid-storage tank

In this study, result of a field investigation of railway traffic-induced vibrations is provided to examine acceptability levels of ground vibration and to evaluate the serviceability of a liquid-storage tank. Free field attenuation of the amplitudes as a function of distance is derived by six accelerometers and compared with a well-known half-space Bornitz´s analytical solution which considers the loss of the amplitude of waves due to geometrical damping and material damping of Rayleigh. Bornitz´s solution tends to overlap vertical free field vibration compared with in-situ measured records. The vibrations of the liquid-storage tank were compared with the USA, Federal Transportation Railroad Administration (FTA) criteria for acceptable ground-borne vibrations and with the criteria in DIN 4150-3 German standard. Comparing the thresholds stated in DIN 4150-3, absolute peak particle velocities are within the safe limits, however according to FTA velocity level at the top of the water tank exceeds the allowable limits. Furthermore, it is intended to indicate experimentally the effect of the kinematic interaction caused by the foundation of the structure on the free-field vibrations.