Structure-borne sound and vibration from rail traffic

Some typical data are given for structure-borne sound excited by train traffic. They show that the dominant frequency range is between 40 Hz and 100 Hz, where the wheel/track resonance lies. Three possible generating mechanisms are qualitatively described; their dependence on the most important parameters is discussed. Only a few remarks are made on structure-borne sound propagation in the ground, and nothing is said about building vibrations. These phenomena depend very strongly on details (inhomogeneities, special constructions, etc.) that are extremely hard to specify. Therefore reliable predictions are very difficult unless a large amount of empirical data is available. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited