In-situ measurement of the vibration decay characteristics of alluvial soil deposits

An in-situ test was performed to investigate the decay of wave motions of alluvial soil deposit at Luju Industrial Park. The obtained soil layer damping parameters were used to evaluate the effects of traffic vibrations from No. 1 Provincial Road and the Kaohsiung rapid transit train on high-tech facilities. Falling weights of 200 kN and 320 kN were used to generate surface vibrations to simulate traffic vibrations of different frequencies. Vibration time histories of different distances from the source were measured and recorded within 500 m from the source. Data processing and analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of soil layers on wave propagation and to determine the vibration damping characteristics of soil deposits. The analysis results of this study showed the coefficient of material attenuation α of the alluvial soil at the testing site in directions X, Y, and Z to be 0.0088, 0.0085 and 0.0064 m^-1, respectively, and the attenuation rates m were 1.19, 1.11, and 1.02, respectively.