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This paper presents the performance of geofoam-filled trenches in mitigating of ground vibration transmissions by the means of a full experimental study. The results
are interpreted in the frequency domain. Fully automated 2D and 3D numerical models are applied to evaluate the screening effectiveness of geofoam-filled trenches
in the active and passive schemes. Experimental results are in good agreement with the prediction of numerical modelling. The validated model is used to investigate
the influence of geometrical and dimensional features on the trench. In addition, three different systems including single, double and triangle wall obstacles are
selected for analysis, and the results are compared for various situations. The parametric study is based on complete automation of the model through coupling finite
element analysis software (Plaxis) and Python programming language to control input, change the parameters, as well as to produce output and calculate the ef
ficiency of the barrier. The results show that the depth and the width of approximately 1λr and 0.2λr , respectively are enough to reach the acceptable amount of
efficiency for the active isolation for all three systems. For the passive scheme, the role of depth can be ignored for the single and double wall barriers, while depth
plays a significant role for the triangle wall system.
1. Introduction trenches. He suggested that a wave barrier should reach at least 75%
mitigation in screening of incoming waves to be deemed as efficacious.
In metropolitan cities, man-made ground vibrations generated by In practice, however, open trenches are not applicable in many cases for
external dynamic sources including traffic, blasting, machine founda a longer time due to difficulties in construction and stability problems.
tions and other constructional activities have recently become a major In such cases, in-filled trench obstacles are generally used.
concern for the nearby structures and inhabitants. Most of the trans A series of field tests are conducted by Ref. [10,11] for finding the
mitted vibration energy is propagated by Rayleigh waves close to the screening effectiveness of open and geofoam-filled obstacles and found
soil surface. The rest of the energy is transmitted by the body waves [1]. that the performance of geofoam-filled trench reached 68 and 67%,
Near-surface vibration can be a major problem for the surrounding respectively. Multiple rows of geofoam-filled barriers are employed for
buildings and their inhabitants. Therefore, implementing a wave barrier assessing the applicability of trench in frequency domain [12]. They
in the transmission path is a suitable solution as it allows scattering the proved that increasing trench depth, to more than one wavelength has
ground-borne vibrations [2]. The barrier intercepts the dispatched only negligible affect on screening performance in the passive scheme.
waves through a complex mode of wave interactions including, reflec Celebi et al. [13] described the results of experimental studies to
tion, refraction, diffraction and wave interference. Vibration screening is compute the screening efficiency of open, stiff and soft barriers in the
classified into two categories including the active scheme, in which the case of active and passive schemes. The observations illustrated that the
obstacle is installed near the source of vibration, and the passive scheme, passive isolation is more effective than the active isolation and softer
in which the trench is constructed far away from the vibration source. back-fill material can be more effective in attenuating the incoming
On the other hand, the applicability of the wave barrier is classified in waves in comparison with the stiff materials. In addition, a centrifuge
terms of open or in-filled trenches [3]. parametric investigation is accomplished by Ref. [14] to examine the
Several studies including both field tests [4,5] and numerical effect of dimensional and geometrical factors on the geofoam-filled
modelling [6–8] have been carried out in order to evaluate the efficiency trench in the mitigation of incident waves. The results of the study
of the wave barrier in wave attenuation. Woods [9] was one of the first showed that the screening performance is dependent on the trench
to perform a full experimental test for evaluating the efficiency of open depth.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: naghizadehrokni@geotechnik.rwth-aachen.de (M. Naghizadehrokni).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2020.106416
Received 4 May 2020; Received in revised form 11 August 2020; Accepted 6 September 2020
Available online 25 September 2020
0267-7261/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Naghizadehrokni et al. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 139 (2020) 106416
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Fig. 2. Vibration source: (A) Shaker structural dynamics Heiland & Mistler GmbH, (B) Vibration sensor.
The transferred data were analysed by MESSI, a program developed by investigate the effectiveness of the obstacle for both situations, the vi
the Department of Structural Mechanics at RWTH Aachen University for bration source had appropriately positioned relative to the barrier. Due
signal acquisition and processing. Some distinct points were selected for to the limited number of available vibration sensors, seven measuring
installing vibration sensors with different distances from the source of points were selected per measurement series, with measuring points A
vibration and the obstacle. Fig. 3 illustrates the selected measuring and B located directly on the shaker for the passive and active isolation,
arrangement including the positioning of the vibration source, the respectively.
geofoam-filled barrier and the vibration sensors, respectively. An approximate propagation velocity of the R-wavelength at the
The shaker was located at two different distances from the trench. To surface of vr = 200m/s and a minimum and maximum examined
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various points for the passive isolation are presented in Fig. 6. The area Baidya, et all [35] investigated change of amplitudes of vibrations in
immediately after the trench has the highest screening performance. The layered soil and they stated that many soils in nature exhibit an increase
screening performance in attenuation of incident waves increases for the in shear modulus with depth and this issue can be recognized as a reason
frequency range between 30 to 60Hz, whereas this frequency range for distinct peaks and valleys. The incoming waves may reflect and
decreased to 35 − 50Hz for point E. However, some unexpected peaks refract at the interfaces of soil layer and they can superpose with surface
and valleys are observed in vertical soil velocity amplitude of 50 and waves in the same phase and originate a bigger wave, which cause
40Hz for points C and D, respectively. amplification in vertical response of the soil. As it is already mentioned
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in section 2.2, we faced a hard soil during the excavation and for this unexpected distinct peaks can be explained by superposition of surface
reason the depth of the trench could not reach the target value ( 3.2m). It waves.
means that we have almost a full reflection of incoming waves. There
fore, the unexpected discrepancies in the result can be explained by 3. Numerical modelling
superposition of surface waves and reflected waves [10]. In addition,
Haupt stated that the reflection and refraction of the R-wave energy Since the model is largely affected by the transmitted and reflected
generates a typical interference pattern, in which the maximum or waves from the boundary of the model, it is important to keep the region
minimum points usually appear at intervals of half of R-wave [19]. By of interest enough far from the reflecting boundary. Therefore, the di
following the intervals for each minimum/maximum point in the figure, mensions of the model are selected as (50, 20, 20 m) and (70, 25 m) in
it can be seen that the intervals follow the rules of Haupt. This pattern is the case of active and passive system, respectively. The soil is modelled
generated by the superposition of waves. as a homogeneous and isotropic half space. The linear elastic model is
Frequency domain analysis of the results enables to monitor selected for the soil since the amplitude of generated vibrations are small
normalized trench depth in terms of R-wavelength. Changing the fre and the soil does not experience the development of plastic deformations
quency of the load leads to changing the length of R-wave since the shear in the region of consideration. In order to applying a special boundary
wave velocity of the soil is constant. Therefore, the effectiveness of the condition, viscous boundaries are applied to the bottom and right sides
geofoam-filled trench is presented as a normalized depth in Fig. 7. of the 2D and 3D models and at Y max direction for 3D model, too. A
The results show that increasing D results in decreasing the value of viscous boundary condition, which was introduced by Lysmer and
(Ar ), which means increasing the efficiency of the trench. The lowest Kuhlmeyer [36] consist of the viscous dampers applied in X, and Y (for
value of (Ar ) is achieved for a normalized depth of approximately 0.6, 2D), and Z (for 3D) direction along the boundary. Relaxation coefficients
which agrees with the result of [11]. (C1 and C2) are introduced in order to improve the effect of absorption.
Average amplitude reduction ratio is expected to decrease with Improving the wave absorption in the normal and tangential direction is
increasing the depth of the trench. However, some amplifications in ( Ar ) done by coefficients C1 and C2, respectively. The values for both co
are observed after the normalized depth of 0.6. Haupt stated that distinct efficients are selected as 1.
peak can occur when shear wave velocity of the soil increases propor Plaxis uses a global meshing parameter, which is called average
tional with the depth. In addition, Massarsch [4] indicated that refracted element size for showing the quality of the mesh. This parameter is
waves from the trench and transferred waves beneath the trench can calculated based on the dimensions of the model and the number of
superpose in the same phase and originate a bigger wave, which can elements. The average element size ( Ie ) of 0.5 is enough for reaching
cause amplification. Since the soil profile in experimental test is acceptable results and satisfying the criteria of Kuhlemeyer and Lysmer
non-homogeneous in terms of increasing shear wave velocity, the [36] for assuming the average element size less than to one-eight of the
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Table 1 dynamic load. The steel plate under the shaker is modelled as plate and
Material properties of Proposed FE model. the shaker weight is considered as a uniform distributed load with
γ Poisson’s Shear Elastic Rayleigh magnitude of 1kN/m2 . However, weight of the steel plate and the shaker
wave Modulus damping is kept constant during parametric study since it does not play a sig
(kN/ ratio velocity (kN/m2 ) coefficient (β) nificant role in vibration attenuation results and the difference for the
m3 ) (m/s) efficiency of trench between zero and non-zero foundation weight is
1.5%, which can be neglected [11,33,37].
Soil 20 0.3 216 250,000 0.0003183
Geofoam 0.61 0.01 330 13,750 –
A large number of models are developed for the parametric study
through changing the governing factors of the trench. Creating all
models manually is a time-consuming process. In order to save the
wavelength associated to the maximum frequency component of the calculation costs, a script is developed for coupling the finite element
input wave. The vibration source is modelled as a vertical harmonic load model (Plaxis) with Python language. This script allows the user to
with the amplitude of 1 and frequency of 50Hz. The dynamic time in control both the input and the output of the model via an external Py
terval is considered as 0.5s, which is enough to allow the passage of thon handler. The main advantage of the automation is accelerating the
Fig. 9. Validation of numerical modelling based on the result of field test, active isolation, (D = 3 m, W = 0.25 m, L = 10 m, X = 2 m).
Fig. 10. Validation of numerical modelling based on the result of field test, passive isolation (D = 3 m, W = 0.25 m, L = 10 m, X = 12 m).
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pace of the parametric study. The input of the script corresponds to the calculations. The parameters α and β are Rayleigh coefficients that
values selected for different parameters, including the depth D, width W, determine the effect of mass and stiffness in the damping of system,
length L, distance between the walls S and the location X. Three different respectively. In mass proportional damping, damping forces are gener
systems are selected including the single, double and triangle wall for ated by velocities of the model and simulated the model’s movement
assessing the effect of the shape of the trench on the screening perfor through a still viscous fluid. Therefore, motion at points within the
mance. The script starts by creating a borehole and subsequently installs model cause damping. It should also be observed that the mass pro
the trench, defines different phases, runs the model and calculates the portional damping would give damping due to rigid body motions. In
efficiency of the trench. The entire process is executed automatically as stiffness proportional damping, damping is generated by strain rates.
shown in Fig. 8. Different functions are defined for excavating the trench Therefore, the damping is more related to the material in comparison
with different configurations including the single, double and the with motion of the model. Hence, stiffness proportional damping is used
triangular wall. An average amplitude reduction ratio factor (Ar ) is used in this finite element model [14]. In addition, in many practical soil
for finding the efficiency of the trench beyond the trench. The value of related problems, α is ignored since it can lead to undesirable result if a
(Ar ) is the average value of vertical soil velocity before and after the large mass has been introduced into the model [38–40].
installation of the trench. Finally, the data for each system are stored in
an Excel file. The created Python script for 2D and 3D model are pro 3.1. Experimental validation of finite element method
vided in the Appendix.
The soil properties for the following analysis are considered the same The developed model has been validated using the results of the field
as those measured in the field test, which are presented in Table 1. The test for the active and passive isolations. The measured and the calcu
constant frequency of f = 50Hz is selected for the applied load, which lated wave attenuation curves are depicted in Figs. 9 and 10 using a
results in R-wavelength equal to 4m. In addition, the linear elastic logarithmic scale for different excitation frequency including, 20, 35, 50
behaviour is used for both the geofoam and soil in the further and 65Hz, respectively.
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The FEM results are in line with the trends in the experimental results 4. Active isolation
and there is a reasonable agreement between the normalized vertical
soil particle velocities, obtained for both the active and passive cases. A comprehensive parametric investigation is carried out to evaluate
Nonetheless, unexpected valleys are visible in the results. Propagated the effectiveness of different isolation systems including the single,
waves through and underneath the geofoam-filled trench are sometimes double and triangular walls as the wave barriers for the active isolation
in or out of phase. This results in a destructive interference of waves and due to the harmonic load in the vertical direction. Results of the detailed
creates valleys in numerical modelling results [21]. parametric investigation are presented and some applicable recom
Another reason of observing some irregular peaks in the results is the mendations are suggested for designing the wave barriers.
less normalized distance between the points for presenting the numer The parametric study begins with considering the different normal
ical modelling, which is 0.25. This distance results in presenting the ized values with respect to the R-wavelength for parameters of the
results as detailed as possible and showing all irregularities that may trench including the depth D (from 0.5 to 2.5), the width W (from
happen for the area after the trench. The same figure has been illustrated 0.0625 to 0.25) and the length L (from 0.625 to 5), respectively. All
with normalized distance of 0.5 and fewer irregularities have been parameters are normalized with respect to the R-wavelength. The
observed with new distance but the results of this distance is not pre different geometrical parameters are considered to be the same for all
sented here Therefore, the model developed in this study, including the configurations in this paper. Three different normalized locations
wave absorbing boundary, adequately predicts the vibration propaga including 0.5, 1.25 and 2 are selected for computing the efficiency of the
tion problem for the case of the geofoam-filled trench. geofoam-filled trench. Since the efficiency of the barrier for all three
systems is not affected by the location of the trench, the result of one
location (0.5) is presented.
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4.1. Single wall system the depth of the barrier from 0.5 to 1 for all widths. A gradual increase or
decrease in wave attenuation is observed when increasing the normal
The normalized soil particle velocity before and after installing the ized depth up to 1. It is observable that there are not significant dis
trench was compared for an area beyond trench. The geofoam-filled crepancies after this depth. Hence, the depth of 1 is defined as the
trench was installed at the normalized location of 0.5. The results, optimum depth for all widths for blocking a major portion of incoming
which are not presented here showed that there is not any considerable waves. The optimum D has a direct relationship with the width of the
difference after distance of 7.5λr for both with and without trench for the barrier.
area beyond the barrier. This leads to use 7λr for the screened zone for Fig. 13 shows that W plays a significant role in screening efficiency of
calculating Ar . This value is selected for all systems in the active scheme. the geofoam-filled obstacle. It is apparent that in general the wave
attenuation reaches its maximum amount at a W value around 0.25. For
4.1.1. Effect of trench dimensions wider trenches (W > 0.2), the effect of W is negligible and can be
Fig. 11 shows that Ar decreases dramatically, which is the result of ignored. Increasing the width of the barrier means having more distance
increasing the normalized length from 0.625 to approximately 2.5. It is between the two sides of the obstacles, which is leading to additional
apparent from the figure that the normalized length beyond around 2.5 geometric discontinuities in the boundary area and results in a further
does not create any changes and may be conservatively assumed to refraction phenomena of the incoming R-waves.
remind unchanged thereafter. The same parametric study has been
applied to other systems with the same results. Therefore, the normal
4.2. Double wall system
ized length of the trench is considered as 2.5 for other systems as well.
The influence of varying the depth of the EPS Geofoam wave barrier
Attenuation of incident waves through a double wall system may be
is studied and the results are presented in Fig. 12.
advantageous in circumstances where the implementation of a single
We achieve a considerable amount of wave attenuation by increasing
wall system is difficult because of unrealistic depth. Using a pair of
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Fig. 17. Influence of normalized barrier width on Ar of EPS Geofoam wave barrier (X = 0.5).
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5. Passive isolation study of the single wall trench, which is not presented in detail, showed
a considerable reduction in vertical ground displacement before and
A 2D time domain finite element model is established for presenting after installing the geofoam-filled trench for a normalized distance of 10,
the result of the parametric investigation. Increasing the normalized which is selected for calculating Ar .
distance between the obstacle and vibration source can lead to making
R-waves more prevailing in comparison with body waves [3,18]. If the 5.1.1. Geometric factor study
barrier encounters plane waves, a plane strain model can present reli The result of Ar as a function of W is plotted in Fig. 18. A careful
able results for calculating average amplitude reduction ratio. Another study of this figure reveals that there is no substantial relationship be
reason is saving the computational time. Since the geometry of passive is tween the computed Ar value and the normalized depth.
bigger than active model, analysing several models would require a lot On the other hand, increasing the wall thickness leads to further
of time. In addition, several researches [11,26] showed that the result of scattering of the ground vibrations generated by source of disturbance. A
2D and 3D models are in acceptable agreement. Different parameters reduction of approximately 60% is achieved by increasing W from
including trench depth, width and location are considered for studying 0.0625 to 0.25 for almost all trench depths and it seems that W = 0.25 is
the effectiveness of the trench. the optimum width for achieving a reasonable amount of wave attenu
ation. An increase in trench thickness creates more discontinuity at the
5.1. Single wall barrier ground surface with different dynamic properties and this difference
creates a diffraction in incident waves.
The variation of the barrier’s dimensional factors (including depth
and width) is determined in the same way as in the active isolation
scheme. However, the geometric factor (including distance between the
obstacle and vibration source) is determined to be 3. The reduction zone
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