A VALIDATED CAE METHOD FOR PREDICTING RAILWAY VIADUCT STRUCTURE-BORNE NOISE

In common with many industries today the rail industry has to meet many noise and vibration requirements. The impact of train pass-by noise on the surrounding environment is of particular importance where high-speed lines operate and where new railways are being designed. The work presented in this paper demonstrates how predictive methods can be used to quantify the structure-borne noise levels radiated from a railway viaduct during a train pass-by event and demonstrates the accuracy of the solution by making comparisons with noise measurements made around an existing operating viaduct. Predicted and measured structure-borne noise, in the frequency range below 300Hz, for a particular viaduct during the passage of a high-speed passenger train is then presented. A-weighted sound exposure levels in the 1/3rd octave band along with total noise levels are compared and shown to be in good agreement. For the covering abstract see ITRD E107776.