Development of a characterization method for high-speed vehicle-induced vibrations in the built environment

A methodology was developed to analyze vehicle-induced vibration on street-adjacent structures. In partnership with an international racing organization, acceleration data was recorded during vehicle pass-by events during measurement campaigns at three locations involving cars traveling at high-speed. Net peak particle velocities were then calculated from the acceleration data. A unique filtering approach was developed for removing non-vehicle-induced signal noise from the measured data prior to analysis. Finally, an adaptation of the frequency domain composition (FDD) method was used to identify peak frequencies of interest for each event. By comparing the processed data to existing standards for cosmetic damage in buildings, the level of structural excitation caused by the measured vehicles was able to be assessed.