Numerical study on reducing building vibrations by foundation improvement

• Investigation of soil stabilisation as a vibration reduction measure.
• Finite element model calibrated to vibration measurements.
• General design guidelines for soil stabilisation presented.
• Traffic-induced vibrations in a slab on soil reduced by 60%.
• Indoor pedestrian-induced vibrations in a slab on soil reduced by 80%.

Vibration disturbances in buildings may stem from ambient sources, such as motorway traffic, or from internal sources such as people walking inside the building. Vibrations can exceed requirements for sensitive equipment or cause annoyance to humans and therefore the vibrations may need to be reduced. Vibrations from both external and internal sources can be reduced by modifying the properties of concrete slabs and of the soil underneath. Soil can be improved by being mixed with a binder material in order to increase its stiffness. In this study, parametric finite element analyses were conducted on the achieved vibration reduction on a slab on soil from improving the properties of a concrete slab on soil or of the soil underneath. The size, elastic modulus, and depth of the stabilised soil were found to markedly affect the level of reduction obtained. The soil stabilisation at a vibration-sensitive facility was used as an example case, where the developed finite element model was calibrated to green-field measurements carried out on-site. Frequency spectra of both road traffic loads and internal pedestrian loads were considered in the model. The calibrated finite element model predicted reductions of almost 60% for the road traffic and 80% for the pedestrian load.