Analysis of Tram Traffic-Induced Vibration Influence on Earthquake Damaged Buildings

Abstract

The Zagreb 2020 earthquake severely damaged the historic centre of the city. Most of the damage occurred on historic masonry residential buildings, many of which are situated very close to the tram track. Although traffic-induced vibrations generally do not affect surrounding buildings, they can be harmful to buildings damaged by a previous earthquake. Vibrations could contribute to the further propagation of existing cracks. The effect of vibrations depends on many factors, one of the most important being the distance between the track and the building. The vibrations are highest at the source, and the energy loss occurs due to transfer through the soil to the recipients. The impact of tram-induced vibrations on earthquake-damaged buildings in the city of Zagreb is investigated in this paper. The analysis is conducted on a tramway network scale to identify critical locations by performing continuous monitoring on the tramway network and risk analysis based on the distance of buildings from the track, vibration amplitude at source, and building damage. Further investigation is based on the level of buildings to evaluate the influence of vibrations on actual buildings damaged in the Zagreb earthquake. Based on detailed signal analysis, the vibration characterization is performed, and the influence on damaged masonry buildings is evaluated.

Influence of Traffic-Induced Vibrations on Humans and Residential Building—A Case Study

“…In addition, one can determine the size and place of damage in real time. On this aspect, research was also carried out in [25][26][27][28][29]. Such monitoring is typically used in buildings exposed to strong dynamic impacts and/or in buildings where significant structural damage has already occurred.…”

Investigation of “Open” Superstructure Tramway Tracks in Budapest

“…Nowadays, electric energy consumption is also a key issue all over the world; in this way, the energy efficiency and the electric, electric-hybrid service of fixed-rail vehicles are vital [7,22,28,33]. The backbone of urban public transport in most cities is guided land transport [34][35][36][37]. As more and more people live in cities, the infrastructure must work together with those who participate in public transport.…”

Influence of railway induced vibrations on structures and humans in urban areas

“…Although vibrations caused by passing trains are not conceived as the major reason for inflicting structural damage on neighbouring buildings, additional damage caused by the vibrations have been observed in some old masonry structures [2,3]. Moreover, structures damaged by earthquake may suffer additional damage caused by the vibrations with the latest example of such a case being the earthquake in Zagreb, which occurred in March 2020 [4][5][6][7][8][9]. On the other hand, vibrations are often the reason for continuous anxiety and discomfort in the occupants of buildings located near railway lines.…”