An innovative vibration barrier by intermittent geofoam – A numerical study

A new technique is proposed to obtain more effective screening efficiency against the ground vibration using intermittent geofoam (IF) in-filled trench. The numerical analysis is performed by employing two-dimensional finite element method under dynamic condition. Vertically oscillated strip foundation is considered as the vibration source. In presence of the ground vibration, the vertical displacements at different locations (pick-up points) along the ground surface are captured to determine the amplitude reduction factor (ARF), which helps to assess the efficiency of the vibration screening technique. The efficiency of IF over continuous geofoam (CF) in-filled vibration barriers is assessed by varying the geofoam density, the location of trench and the frequency of excitation. The results from this study indicate that a significant reduction in ARF can be achieved by using intermittent geofoam as compared to continuous geofoam. Further, it is noticed that the efficiency of IF increases with an increase in the frequency of the vibrating source. These encouraging results put forward the potential of utilising intermittent geofoam as a vibration screening material.