Main Factors Determining the Effectiveness of Vertical Barriers in Reducing Vibrations Propagating through the Soil

The installation of a vertical barrier in the path of surface wave propagation in soil, in the form of an open trench or a trench filled with various materials is considered an effective method of vibration isolation against explosive, seismic, industrial, and transportation-induced vibrational impacts. In this work, based on the finite element method, numerical modeling of dynamic wave propagation in soil with a vertical wave barrier in their path was performed. The soil medium was considered as a spatial elastic inertial array with a specified damping of oscillations according to Rayleigh theory, limited by non-reflective boundaries. The dynamic load was applied in the form of a sinusoid. The change in surface vibration parameters behind the barrier was studied depending on the material of the latter. The calculation results are presented in dimensionless quantities for the geometric parameters of the barrier and its dynamic properties. It has been found that the main parameter of the barrier material determining the effectiveness of vibration isolation is the dynamic modulus of elasticity of the barrier material. Its increase or decrease in relation to the elastic modulus of the soil leads to a reduction in vibrations behind the barrier in the direction of propagation of dynamic waves in the soil. Formulas have been obtained describing the relative reduction of soil vibrations behind the barrier depending on the coefficient of relative reduction in the dynamic modulus of elasticity of the barrier material. The most effective option is a composite structure consisting of alternating layers of materials with the highest and lowest dynamic moduli of elasticity relative to the surrounding soil. The reduction of vibration amplitudes in the soil behind the barrier for this composite structure reaches 87.7 % at a barrier depth equal to the Rayleigh wave length.

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