Experimental study of noise mitigation measures on a slab track
Experimental study of noise mitigation measures on a slab track
Slab track is generally noisier than conventional ballasted track, so noise control measures that can be applied to a slab track are of great importance. Several noise control treatments have been studied under controlled conditions through experiments on a 1:5 scale model slab track with and without the presence of a train body. These treatments consist of absorptive rubber mats applied to the surface of the slab and a low noise barrier introduced close to the track. The noise reduction is evaluated experimentally by using a reciprocal method and compared with the results of numerical simulations. The insertion loss spectra of these treatments have been combined with predicted train pass-by spectra to determine the potential overall noise reductions. It has been found that the absorptive treatment alone has only a small effect on the radiated noise from the track. This is increased by the presence of the train body leading to a reduction of up to 2-3 dB at a standard receiver height of 1.2 m, which suggests that the absorptive layer controls reflections between the car body and the track. All the treatments considered have a greater effect on the noise radiated by the lateral vibration of the rail than on that from the vertical vibration. Their effectiveness mostly increases, by between roughly 0.5 and 1.5 dB, as the train speed is increased from 80 to 300 km/h. As expected, the noise barrier is more effective at lower receiver positions than at higher ones but its effectiveness is reduced by 1-2 dB by the presence of the train body. However, in combination with the absorptive treatment, its effectiveness increases when the train body is present. This shows the importance of including of the presence of the train body in evaluating the effects of acoustic treatments in the track.
absorptive treatment, boundary element method, finite element method, low-height barrier, noise mitigation, slab track
Zhang, Xianying
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Jeong, Hongseok
2be64b0a-43e8-4bf6-8c17-0f9177a3fa70
Thompson, David
bca37fd3-d692-4779-b663-5916b01edae5
Squicciarini, Giacomo
c1bdd1f6-a2e8-435c-a924-3e052d3d191e
15 January 2021
Zhang, Xianying
2d0ba27f-b78b-4823-938f-fa42d6787ab5
Jeong, Hongseok
2be64b0a-43e8-4bf6-8c17-0f9177a3fa70
Thompson, David
bca37fd3-d692-4779-b663-5916b01edae5
Squicciarini, Giacomo
c1bdd1f6-a2e8-435c-a924-3e052d3d191e
Zhang, Xianying, Jeong, Hongseok, Thompson, David and Squicciarini, Giacomo
(2021)
Experimental study of noise mitigation measures on a slab track.
Applied Acoustics, 172, [107630].
(doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107630).
Abstract
Slab track is generally noisier than conventional ballasted track, so noise control measures that can be applied to a slab track are of great importance. Several noise control treatments have been studied under controlled conditions through experiments on a 1:5 scale model slab track with and without the presence of a train body. These treatments consist of absorptive rubber mats applied to the surface of the slab and a low noise barrier introduced close to the track. The noise reduction is evaluated experimentally by using a reciprocal method and compared with the results of numerical simulations. The insertion loss spectra of these treatments have been combined with predicted train pass-by spectra to determine the potential overall noise reductions. It has been found that the absorptive treatment alone has only a small effect on the radiated noise from the track. This is increased by the presence of the train body leading to a reduction of up to 2-3 dB at a standard receiver height of 1.2 m, which suggests that the absorptive layer controls reflections between the car body and the track. All the treatments considered have a greater effect on the noise radiated by the lateral vibration of the rail than on that from the vertical vibration. Their effectiveness mostly increases, by between roughly 0.5 and 1.5 dB, as the train speed is increased from 80 to 300 km/h. As expected, the noise barrier is more effective at lower receiver positions than at higher ones but its effectiveness is reduced by 1-2 dB by the presence of the train body. However, in combination with the absorptive treatment, its effectiveness increases when the train body is present. This shows the importance of including of the presence of the train body in evaluating the effects of acoustic treatments in the track.
Text
Experimental study of the noise mitigation measures to a slab track RevisionFinal (002)
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 27 August 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 September 2020
Published date: 15 January 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The work described here has been supported by the EPSRC under the programme grant EP/M025276/1 , ‘The science and analytical tools to design long life, low noise railway track systems (Track to the Future)’ and was also supported by the Korean Railroad Research Institute ( KRRI ) though a grant ( 15RTRP-B072484-03 ) from Railroad Technology Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean government. All data published in this paper are openly available from the University of Southampton repository at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D1525.
Funding Information:
The work described here has been supported by the EPSRC under the programme grant EP/M025276/1, ?The science and analytical tools to design long life, low noise railway track systems (Track to the Future)? and was also supported by the Korean Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) though a grant (15RTRP-B072484-03) from Railroad Technology Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean government. All data published in this paper are openly available from the University of Southampton repository at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D1525.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:
absorptive treatment, boundary element method, finite element method, low-height barrier, noise mitigation, slab track
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 444182
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/444182
ISSN: 0003-682X
PURE UUID: 6ca42fa1-bf03-4550-bc76-6d69ac688134
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Date deposited: 30 Sep 2020 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:57
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Author:
Xianying Zhang
Author:
Hongseok Jeong
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