Human response to vibration in residential environments (NANR209), technical report 3 : calculation of vibration exposure

The Technical Report 3 describes the research undertaken to develop a methodology by which human exposure to vibration in residential environments can be calculated. That work has carried out by the University of Salford supported by the Department of environment food and rural affairs (Defra). The overall aim of the project is to derive exposure-response relationships for human vibration in residential environments. This document in particular focuses on the methods used to calculate vibration exposure from measured vibration signals due to different sources. The main objective of this report is to describe the different approaches used for calculating the different source-specific exposure. Reported here are findings obtained and a description of the feasibility of the methods used for evaluating exposure for different sources. In addition, an evaluation of the uncertainty related to the exposure calculation is considered

Human response to vibration in residential environments (NANR209), executive summary

The aim of the Defra-funded project NANR209 ‘Human response to vibration in residential environments’ was to develop exposure-response relationships for vibration experienced in residential environments from sources outside of the residents’ control. The project was performed at the University of Salford between January 2008 and March 2011. The final report was published on the Defra website on 6th September 2012. The NANR209 Final Report consists of the following documents: • Executive summary • Final project report • Technical report 1: Measurement of vibration exposure • Technical report 2: Measurement of response • Technical report 3: Calculation of vibration exposure • Technical report 4: Measurement and calculation of noise exposure • Technical report 5: Analysis of the social survey findings • Technical report 6: Determination of exposure-response relationships This document is the Executive summary

Human response to vibration in residential environments, technical report 1 : measurement of vibration exposure

The Technical Report 1 describes the research undertaken to develop a method by which human exposure to vibration in residential environments can be assessed. That work has been carried out by the University of Salford supported by the Department of environment food and rural affairs (Defra). The overall aim of the project is to derive exposure-response relationships for human vibration in residential environments. This document in particular focuses on the equipment and methodology employed to measure vibration from different sources. The main objective of this report is to describe the practical experience of implementing a vibration measurement protocol. Reported here are findings obtained in the field measurements and a description of a feasible method for measuring vibration for different sources. In addition, controlled tests performed to determine the suitability of the vibration mounting for various practical situations are reported

Exposure‐response relationships from railway noise in the presence of vibration

The main aim of this thesis is to develop exposure-response relationships for noise, vibration, and combined effects from noise and vibration. Examinations of non-acoustical factors such as noise sensitivity, noise acceptance, gender, age, and sleep disturbance are also performed in this project. Many studies have previously been conducted to investigate community response to transportation noise in residential areas. Comparatively few studies have investigated community response to vibration exposure, and fewer still the combined effects of noise and vibration. This study of exposure-response relationships for noise and vibration therefore presents a potentially significant need contribution for the problems of these kinds.This work was performed as part of the Defra funded project “NANR209: Human response to vibration in residential environments” which was conducted between January 2008 and March 2011. The database for the project was obtained by undertaking a social survey questionnaire along with measurements of vibration. The project addressed railway, construction and internal sources of vibration. This thesis concerns railway exposure for which the database contains 931 cases. The face to face interviews took place within participants’ dwellings. In 542 properties out of 931, internal vibration was recorded and calculated utilizing a number of vibration indices, two of which are VDVb,24h and RMS Wk. Vibration exposure has been predicted for the remaining cases. Noise exposure in the form of Lden has been calculated for 843 out of 931 cases using the Calculation of Railway Noise procedure (Department of Transport, 1995). It has been estimated that maximal error that can be expected from prediction in this thesis is equal to ±10 dB(A) at the 95% confidence level. On the other hand, maximal error that can be expected from vibration measurements is equal to ±2.2 dB or ±6.2 dB, with regard to “internal measurements” and “no measurements”, respectively.It is concluded from analyses of combined effects that noise and vibration additively contribute to the proportion of people reporting little, moderate, and high annoyance from exposure to railway noise in the presence of vibration. [Work funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) UK

Human response to vibration in residential environments (NANR209), Technical report 6 : determination of exposure-response relationships

This technical report presents the development of exposure-response relationships for the human response to vibration in residential environments. The data used to formulate the relationships presented in this report are those which were collected for the Defra funded project “NANR209: Human response to vibration in residential environments”, the main aim of which was the development of exposure-response relationships. Vibration caused by railway traffic, construction work, and internal sources outside of the residents’ control were considered. Response data was collected via face to face interviews with residents in their own homes. The questionnaire was presented as a neighbourhood satisfaction survey and gathered information on, among other things, annoyance caused by vibration and noise exposure. Development and implementation of the questionnaire used for the collection of response data is discussed in Technical Report 2 and Technical Report 5. Vibration exposure was determined via measurement and prediction in such a way that, where possible, an estimation of internal vibration exposure was established for each residence in which a questionnaire was completed. The measurement procedures and methods employed to estimate vibration exposure are detailed in Technical Report 1 and Technical Report 3. Estimations of noise exposure were also derived for each residence using the methods detailed in Technical Report 4