Design and Study of Locally Resonant Wave-Impeding Barriers for Mitigating Environmental Vibrations on Adjacent Reinforced Concrete Buildings

The effect of environmental vibrations, such as those from traffic, mechanical operations, and building construction, on nearby buildings and infrastructure have become a serious issue. Novel approaches are needed to effectively mitigate these vibrations. To this end, a three-component locally resonant wave-impeding barrier (LRWIB) is proposed to attenuate the vibrations, and an inverse tandem design model is established based on artificial neural networks for quickly and accurately designing the LRWIB. The bandgap characteristics of the LRWIB are analyzed in detail based on the complex band structure, the effective mass, and the vibration mode. Additionally, a three-dimensional FEM of a five-story RC building is established to evaluate the reduction effectiveness of the LRWIB structures. The results demonstrate that the bandgap of the designed LRWIB, based on tested train-caused vibration, can cover the predominant frequency of the vibration, and the vibration rapidly attenuates in the bandgap. The LRWIB system is also able to effectively reduce the acceleration responses of nearby five-story RC buildings induced by trains. The maximum attenuation ratio at the fifth floor can be up to 50%.