Perception and Annoyance Due to Vibrations in Dwellings Generated from Ground Transportation: A Review

Abstract

Over the past decades, the improvement of the quality of buildings regarding sound insulation has made it possible to reduce noise exposure. But this improvement has led to the increasing importance of other environmental nuisances such as vibrations. Just like noise, vibrations can also affect human health and well-being. National authorities are progressively becoming aware of the adverse effects of vibrations on human beings. One of these adverse effects is vibration annoyance. As a prerequisite for studying vibration annoyance, many research works have provided knowledge of how vibrations are perceived by human beings. But, until now, only a few large-scale studies have been carried out to gain knowledge of annoyance due to vibrations. This knowledge is of importance for public authorities in order to plan the development of transportation networks while taking account of this environmental nuisance (i.e. vibrations). Assessing vibration annoyance is a complex task that implies research work spread over various disciplines (e.g. human sciences, physics). This is why a review of knowledge in the field of vibration perception and annoyance is felt to be necessary. More specifically, this review focuses on vibration annoyance felt by inhabitants inside buildings and caused by ground transportation sources. Before dealing with the review of annoyance due to vibrations, the basics of human vibratory perception are presented. Then, annoyance due to a vibration exposure is dealt with. In particular, the way vibration exposure and vibration annoyance are measured and assessed is tackled. The main features and results of research works that aimed to establish exposure-effect relationships between annoyance and vibrations are described. Finally, this review presents a state-ofthe-art of annoyance due to a combined exposure to vibrations and noise, since people exposed to vibrations are also often exposed to airborne noise. This review is non-exhaustive, but it can give to scientists and engineers working in the field tools for a better understanding of some of the factors to consider when dealing with the issue of vibration annoyance due to ground transportation.

Analysis of Psychoacoustic and Vibration-Related Parameters to Track the Reasons for Health Complaints after the Introduction of New Tramways

“…This study provides further support to the statement in the review by Trolle et al 2015 [71] that typical vibration weighting used in standards (e.g., Wm) do not provide sufficient protection under certain circumstances. Furthermore, the required time weighting "slow" in the Austrian standard can lead to a slight underestimation of the exposure peaks at the perceptual level.…”

“…A recent review [71] concluded, that commonly used weighting curves (e.g., Wm in Austria) do not correctly reflect annoyance caused by vibrations with multiple frequency components. Furthermore, recent evidence from exposure response curves [72,73] suggest that the standards (e.g., [74] or [48]) may underestimate the potential effects on sleep during evening and night hours".…”

Influence of location of measurement point on evaluation of human perception of vibration

“…In the recent decades population in the cities has grown. Exposure to vibrations from environmental sources like railways, tramways or roads causes such disturbance like annoyance, sleeping problems or headaches [1][2][3]. Designers and structural engineers focused mainly on dynamical influence of transport systems on structures [4][5][6].…”

Thermal and Vibration Comfort Analysis of a Nearly Zero-Energy Building in Poland

“…This is due to the need to design, among others, barriers in the ground that limit the transmission of vibrations to building structures or special, expensive vibroisolation. However, if the level of vibration comfort that is specified in the standard is exceeded, it may pose a problem for human health [21,22]. In such cases, it may lead to an uneven influence of vibrations on the internal organs of the human being and, as a consequence, the occurrence of patients that are for example connected with the circulatory system and metabolic disorders.…”