Vibration measurement in a metro depot with trains running in the top story

Abstract

Metro depots are places for subway train to get parked and maintained. To avoid the waste of large city areas occupied by depots, there is a need of developing depots for commercial and/or residential use as well, and in that case the train-induced vibrations become the major concern. This paper presents a unique case study on the vibration measurement in a 3-story metro depot, where the first two stories are developed for offices and shops and the third story is used as the maintenance garage with trains moving in/out through the connecting viaducts. Acceleration time histories of rails and floors in the three stories were measured. Amplitudes and frequency contents of the vibrations at different locations are compared through the corresponding frequency spectra and 1/3 octave band root-mean-square (RMS) spectra. The influence of track positions on floor vibration is investigated, and the vibration level of the building is evaluated using two indicators. Finally, numerical simulation is carried out so as to provide some references to the vibration control.