HOW BUILDING ADJACENCY AFFECTS OCCUPANT-PERCEIVABLE VIBRATIONS DUE TO URBAN SOURCES: A PARAMETRIC STUDY

Urban densification, despite the economic and social opportunities it offers, brings with it challenges to the well-being of citizens. A direct effect of densification is the rise in noise- and vibration-producing sources, which can lead to both health and comfort issues. In determining the risk associated with excessive vibration levels, the distance between the source and the receiver or target building, the ground properties, and the building type, are all important factors. In this paper, we are concerned with the effect that adjacent buildings have on the prediction of the vibration levels in a residential building, caused by external ground surface loads. The parametric studies were conducted using a coupled finite element model of the ground and the buildings. The analyses were conducted in the frequency domain, and vibrational velocity levels were computed at the receiver building in order to assess how building adjacency affects the receiving building’s vibrational response. (Less)