Evaluation of track stiffness with a vibrator for prediction of train-induced displacement on railway embankments

A measuring car, the rolling stiffness measuring vehicle (RSMV), has been developed to investigate track conditions. The investigation described in this paper firstly attempts to understand whether the point flexibility of the track, i.e., the track-embankment-subsoil system, can be obtained by simultaneously measuring the force applied to an axle of the measuring car and the resulting acceleration response. Secondly, it attempts to determine the physical properties of the track by modelling it as a Bernoulli–Euler beam on a Kelvin foundation. The final part of the paper investigates the possibility of predicting displacements on a railway embankment based on the physical properties obtained after a train passage. Results from two sites in Sweden, Kumla and Kåhög, have been used. Investigations give encouraging results. However, as seen here, it can be difficult to analyse and obtain parameters if the resonance frequency of the system is low. The peak particle displacement of the ballast on the railway embankment was achieved with fair accuracy for both Kumla and Kåhög using the results from the accelerometer on the RSMV.     

Greenstone volcanoes in the central Norwegian Caledonides

It seems possible to locate some of the volcanic centres of the greenstone effusions of the Caledonian geosynclinal volcanism in Norway from simple geologic features, such as greenstone thickness and character, gabbro intrusion intensity, and quartz keratophyre frequency. In the central part of the Trondheim region some six probable and four likely volcanoes are indicated. The best example may be the upturned Joma volcano further north.

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Zusammenfassung Es scheint möglich, einige der vulkanischen Zentren der Grünsteineffusionen im Vulkanismus der kaledonischen Geosynklinale durch einfache geologische Merkmale wie Mächtigkeit und Charakter des Grünsteins, Intensität der Gabbrointrusion und Häufigkeit der Quarzkeratophyre aufzufinden. Im Mittelteil des Trondheimgebietes werden 6 wahrscheinliche und 4 mögliche Vulkane angegeben. Das beste Beispiel wäre vielleicht der umgekehrte Joma Vulkan weiter nördlich.

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Résumé Il semble probable de localiser quelques-uns des centres volcaniques des émissions de « greenstone » dans le volcanisme géosynclinal calédonien en Norvège d'après des marques géologiques comme l'épaisseur et le caractère de «greenstone», l'intensité de la gabbro intrusion, et la fréquence de quartz kératophyre. Au milieu de la Trondheim région on constate six volcans probables et quatre volcans possibles. Le meilleur exemple est peut-être le Joma volcan renversé plus au nord.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. A.Rittmann on the occasion of his 75. birthday     

Lower crustal intrusions beneath the southern Baikal Rift Zone: Evidence from full-waveform modelling of wide-angle seismic data

The Cenozoic Baikal Rift Zone (BRZ) is situated in south-central Siberia in the suture between the Precambrian Siberian Platform and the Amurian plate. This more than 2000-km long rift zone is composed of several individual basement depressions and half-grabens with the deep Lake Baikal at its centre. The BEST (Baikal Explosion Seismic Transect) project acquired a 360-km long, deep seismic, refraction/wide-angle reflection profile in 2002 across southern Lake Baikal. The data from this project is used for identification of large-scale crustal structures and modelling of the seismic velocities of the crust and uppermost mantle. Previous interpretation and velocity modelling of P-wave arrivals in the BEST data has revealed a multi layered crust with smooth variation in Moho depth between the Siberian Platform (41 km) and the Sayan-Baikal fold belt (46 km). The lower crust exhibits normal seismic velocities around the rift structure, except for beneath the rift axis where a distinct 50–80-km wide high-velocity anomaly (7.4–7.6 ± 0.2 km/s) is observed. Reverberant or “ringing” reflections with strong amplitude and low frequency originate from this zone, whereas the lower crust is non-reflective outside the rift zone. Synthetic full-waveform reflectivity modelling of the high-velocity anomaly suggests the presence of a layered sequence with a typical layer thickness of 300–500 m coinciding with the velocity anomaly. The P-wave velocity of the individual layers is modelled to range between 7.4 km/s and 7.9 km/s. We interpret this feature as resulting from mafic to ultra-mafic intrusions in the form of sills. Petrological interpretation of the velocity values suggests that the intrusions are sorted by fractional crystallization into plagioclase-rich low-velocity layers and pyroxene- and olivine-rich high-velocity layers. The mafic intrusions were probably intruded into the ductile lower crust during the main rift phase in the Late Pliocene. As such, the intrusive material has thickened the lower crust during rifting, which may explain the lack of Moho uplift across southern BRZ.     

Wave barrier of lime–cement columns against train-induced ground-borne vibrations

This paper presents a comparison between measured train-induced ground vibrations in the free-field before and after countermeasures had been taken at Kåhög near Gothenburg in Sweden. A wave barrier of lime–cement columns was constructed parallel to the railway in order to reduce the ground-borne vibrations inside nearby buildings. On top of the barrier an embankment was built to reduce air-borne vibrations. Due to the wave barrier design, part of the energy content of the waves was expected to be reflected by the screen and transmitted energy was expected to be partly scattered. Contribution from the noise-embankment was not thought likely but could not be ruled out due to its fairly large mass and its close proximity to the railway. The effect of the mitigating measures resulted in a 67% reduction of the maximum particle velocity at 30 m and 41% at 60 m from the railway. A simple two-dimensional finite element model has been used to study the relative importance of the wave barrier and the noise-embankment as contributors to the mitigation recorded of the ground vibrations in the field. It is concluded with respect to ground vibrations that both the barrier and the embankment had a mitigating effect but that the contribution from the barrier dominated. Furthermore, it is seen from the field results as well as the simulation that the effect of the mitigating action is reduced with increasing distance from the railway.     

A sensitivity study of the WRF model in offshore wind modeling over the Baltic Sea

Accurate wind modeling is important for wind resources assessment and wind power forecasting.To improve the WRF model configuration for the offshore wind modeling over the Baltic Sea,this study per-formed a sensitivity study of the WRF model to multiple model configurations,including domain setup,grid resolution,sea surface temperature,land surface data,and atmosphere-wave coupling.The simu-lated offshore wind was evaluated against LiDAR observations under different wind directions,atmo-spheric stabilities,and sea status.Generally,the simulated wind profiles matched observations,despite systematic underestimations.Strengthening the forcing from the reanalysis data through reducing the number of nested domains played the largest role in improving wind modeling.Atmosphere-wave cou-pling further improved the simulated wind,especially under the growing and mature sea conditions.Increasing the vertical resolution,and updating the sea surface temperature and the land surface infor-mation only had a slight impact,mainly visible during very stable conditions.Increasing the horizontal resolution also only had a slight impact,most visible during unstable conditions.Our study can help to improve the wind resources assessment and wind power forecasting over the Baltic Sea.