Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Measurement
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/measurement

Experimental investigation on the effectiveness of laminated rubber

bearings to isolate metro generated vibration
Peng Pan a,⇑, Shaodong Shen b, Zhouyang Shen b, Runhua Gong b
a
Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Safety and Durability of China Education Ministry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Vibration control is important in maintaining the functionality of the buildings surrounding a metro.
Received 4 May 2017 Among the many methods of vibration control, track isolation is by far the most efficient approach.
Received in revised form 6 July 2017 However, for buildings constructed near a metro line which has no track isolation, base isolation of
Accepted 13 July 2017
the building structures is useful to alleviate metro generated vibration. Laminated rubber bearings are
Available online xxxx
commonly used for seismic isolation of building structures; however, their effectiveness in isolating
metro generated vibration has not yet been well explored. In this study, scaled model tests were carried
Keywords:
out to investigate the isolation effectiveness of laminated rubber bearings in base isolated building struc-
Metro generated vibration
Isolation effect
tures. Specifically, four types of laminated rubber bearings, i.e. thick natural rubber bearings, thin natural
Thick rubber bearing rubber bearings, thick high damping rubber bearings, and thin high damping rubber bearings, were
High damping rubber bearing tested. Tests were carried out under the designed compressive stress, 70% of the design compressive
Natural rubber bearing stress and at various excitation intensities. Our results show that the isolation effectiveness of both thick
natural rubber bearings and thick high damping rubber bearings were significant and stable, while thin
rubber bearings offered insignificant and unstable isolation.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction methods are widely used in present metro construction and their
effectiveness has been proved for the control of vibration on build-
Vibration control is important in reducing structural damages ings surrounding a metro. Track isolation is an approach to miti-
and maintaining the functionality of the buildings surrounding a gate the metro generated vibration for the whole area alongside
metro [1–4]. According to field investigations, the effects of metro the metro line, while building isolation is a specific method for a
generated excitation on building structures are mainly in the ver- single building. Building isolation becomes necessary mainly in
tical direction, and the major frequency of the excitation is two cases. The first is for existing metro lines where track isolation
between 30 Hz and 80 Hz [5,6]. Many countries prescribe a limit was not adopted when the line was constructed. The second is for
value for the allowable ground excitation for buildings, e.g. 75 dB those buildings surrounding a metro which have a special require-
is the Chinese Standard for environmental vibration in urban areas ment for vibration-free functionality, e.g. laboratories, precision
[7]. A recent study showed that the peak values of vibration accel- instrument factories. Building isolation can be a necessary supple-
eration for some buildings surrounding a metro were much larger ment to track isolation [14,15].
than the limit value [8–10]. To solve this problem, many technical Laminated rubber bearings are widely used in seismic isolation.
solutions for vibration control for buildings surrounding a metro Isolating buildings from seismic vibration using laminated rubber
have been developed. These solutions can be classified into track bearings has many advantages [16], e.g. low price, easy fabrication,
isolation and building isolation [11]. Rubber pads are commonly and effectiveness in reducing the seismic responses. However, its
installed between the rails and sleepers for track isolation [12]. A effectiveness for isolating buildings from metro generated vibra-
rather expensive method for track isolation is to use floating-slab tion has not been well explored. In fact, despite having been imple-
track, which mounts the entire track on concrete slabs isolated mented in a few real engineering projects [11,17,18], the
from the tunnel [5]. Barriers and soil improvement along the rail- effectiveness of laminated rubber bearings for isolating metro gen-
way track are also popular methods for track isolation [13]. These erated vibration is still not convincing. Some field measurements
demonstrate that the application of laminated rubber bearings
⇑ Corresponding author. increases metro generated vertical vibration [19]. To date, most
E-mail address: panpeng@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn (P. Pan). investigations on isolation effectiveness are based on field

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2017.07.019
0263-2241/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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2 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

measurements. These studies investigate the overall isolation Table 1

effectiveness for a specific metro generated vibration spectrum. Material properties of HDR and NR.

However, the frequency components and excitation intensity vary HDR NR

significantly for buildings surrounding metros in different areas. Shear modulus [MPa] G 0.62 0.39
Therefore, these assessments of isolation effectiveness based on Elasticity modulus [MPa] Eo 7.60 2.20
specific projects are not necessarily appropriate for all isolation Bulk elasticity modulus [MPa] E1 1500.00 1200.00
projects. In addition, natural rubber bearings with relatively thick Elastic modulus correction coefficient j 1.00 0.85

rubber layers are used in many engineering projects, but the effec-
tiveness of rubber bearings of different thicknesses and different
rubber materials are still unknown. Based on the ISO Standard [20], the compressive stiffness K V for
To provide more comprehensive experimental evidence that laminated rubber bearings is determined by:
testifies to the effectiveness of laminated rubber bearings for the AEC
isolation of metro generated vibration, a vibration test was KV ¼ ; ð1Þ
nr  t r
designed and carried out in the laboratory. The excitation fre-
quency and intensity are controllable and satisfy the excitation where EC is the modified elasticity modulus calculated using Eq. (2):
requirements of metro generated vibration. In the tests, the thick- Eap E1
ness of the rubber layers and the rubber materials were selected as EC ¼ ; ð2Þ
Eap þ E1
test parameters. Specifically, four types of laminated rubber bear-
ings, i.e. thick high damping rubber bearings, thin high damping where Eap is the apparent elastic modulus calculated using Eq. (3):
rubber bearings, thick natural rubber bearings, and thin natural
rubber bearings, were tested. Tests were carried out under the Eap ¼ Eo ð1 þ 2jS21 Þ; ð3Þ
design compressive stress, 70% of the design compressive stress where the first shape factor S1 can be written as:
and at various excitation intensities. By drawing the response
curve of the isolation effect under different frequencies or different D
S1 ¼ : ð4Þ
intensities, a universal approach to evaluating the isolation effec- 4tr
tiveness of laminated rubber bearings is provided, and the isolation The critical compressive stress rcr for the laminated rubber
effectiveness of thin rubber bearings and thick rubber bearings bearings with zero shear strain is expressed by:
under various levels of compressive stress are demonstrated.
p pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
rcr ¼ nS2 Eb G; ð5Þ
4
2. Design of the test specimens
where n is the calculation coefficient which for circular cross-
section is 1.0. S2 is the second shape factor calculated using Eq.
Rubber bearings with thick and thin layers, simply called a thick
(6) and Eb is the apparent bending elastic modulus given in Eq. (7).
rubber bearing and a thin rubber bearing, were considered in this
study. Both thin and thick rubber bearings were manufactured D
S2 ¼ ð6Þ
with a type of High Damping Rubber (HDR) and a type of Natural nr  t r
Rubber (NR). Fig. 1 shows the four types of specimens, i.e. a thick
high damping rubber bearing, a thin high damping rubber bearing, Eo ð3 þ 2jS1 Þ  E1
Eb ¼ : ð7Þ
a thick natural rubber bearing, and a thin natural rubber bearing. Eo ð3 þ 2jS1 Þ þ 3E1
Each type of the rubber bearing has 4 specimens. The material
Usually, the design compressive stress rs is determined based
properties are shown in Table 1 for high damping rubber and nat-
on rcr considering the safety factor k:
ural rubber.
rcr
The outer diameter of the laminated rubber bearings commonly rs ¼ : ð8Þ
used in practical engineering projects is from a few hundred mil- k
limeters to more than a thousand millimeters. This size is too large Therefore, once the material properties and dimensions of rub-
for a laboratory test considering the load capability of laboratory ber bearings are given, theoretical compressive mechanical proper-
facilities. Therefore, 1/10 scaled models were manufactured and ties can be calculated based on the equations above. The
tested in this study to demonstrate the isolation effectiveness of theoretical values of both full and scaled size specimens are sum-
full size bearings. Dimensions of full size specimens and scaled marized in Tables 4 and 5. The theoretical mechanical properties
specimens are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. are the reference for test design and a validation of the experimen-
tal values.
In Tables 4 and 5, the safety factor k of NR is set to 3. While
for HDR, because the material uncertainty is relatively high, k is
set to 4.

3. Test setup

The test setup is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Three concrete blocks

were placed on the laminated rubber bearings to simulate the
gravity of the superstructure [Fig. 2(a)]. The blocks were designed
with different weights. Different levels of compressive stresses
were applied to the top of the rubber bearings by choosing differ-
ent combinations of concrete blocks. A relatively thin concrete
slab, which is simply supported at the two short edges, was placed
below the rubber bearings. A vibrator was placed under the thin
Fig. 1. Test specimens. concrete floor to apply a vertical excitation with adjustable

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 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 3

Table 2
Dimensions of the full size specimens.

Description Vars. Thick rubber bearings Thin rubber bearings

Material HDR NR HDR NR
Outer diameter [mm] D 800 800 800 800
Sectional area [mm2] A 502,654 502,654 502,654 502,654
Rubber layer thickness [mm] tr 40 40 10 10
Rubber layer number nr 5 5 20 20

Table 3
Dimensions of the scaled specimens.

Description Vars. Thick rubber bearings Thin rubber bearings

Material HDR NR HDR NR
Outer diameter [mm] D 80 80 80 80
Sectional area [mm2] A 5026 5026 5026 5026
Rubber layer thickness [mm] tr 4 4 1 1
Rubber layer number nr 5 5 20 20

Table 4
Mechanical properties of the full size bearings.

Description Vars. Thick rubber bearings Thin rubber bearings

Material HDR NR HDR NR
First shape factor S1 5 5 20 20
Second shape factor S2 4 4 4 4
Vertical stiffness [KN/mm] Kv 774 222 3024 1674
Critical compressive stress [MPa] rcr 14.07 10.09 47.94 33.28
Design compressive stress [MPa] rs 3 3 10 10

Table 5
Mechanical properties of the scaled bearings.

Description Vars. Thick rubber bearings Thin rubber bearings

Material HDR NR HDR NR
First shape factor S1 5 5 20 20
Second shape factor S2 4 4 4 4
Vertical stiffness [KN/mm] Kv 77 22 302 167
Critical compressive stress [MPa] rcr 14.07 10.09 47.94 33.28
Design compressive stress [MPa] rs 3 3 10 10

intensity and frequency [Fig. 2(b)]. This vibrator provided a frequencies. The test frequencies were 10 Hz, 50 Hz, 100 Hz,
sinusoidal output with a maximum force of 500 N and an operating 150 Hz, 200 Hz, 250 Hz, and 300 Hz. For the test under different
frequency range from 0.5 Hz to 5000 Hz. Both the output intensity frequencies, the corresponding excitation intensity of the vibrator
and frequency were adjusted during the tests. The vibrator was was set to the maximum capacity of the vibrator. Multiple com-
fixed to the concrete floor by installing an anchor through a hole pressive stresses were considered in this stage of the tests, The
in the middle of the floor. Thus both compression and tension were stresses for the thick rubber bearings were 2 MPa and 3 MPa while
applied to the model. Four force sensors were placed between the the stresses for thin rubber bearings 7 MPa and 10 MPa. In the sec-
four rubber bearings and the concrete blocks to ensure uniform ond stage, the tests examined the acceleration transfer coefficients
compressive forces were exerted on the four rubber bearings for varying intensities. The excitation intensity of the vibrator was
[Fig. 2(c)]. increased gradually from the minimum to the maximum vibrator
Two monitoring points were set in this model. The vertical capacity in seven steps. At this stage of the tests, a constant com-
acceleration of each point was monitored by an accelerometer. pressive stress was used. The testing stresses for thick and thin
As shown in Fig. 3, one monitoring point was on the bottom flange rubber bearings were 3 MPa and 10 MPa, respectively. By applying
of the rubber bearing, and represented the acceleration before iso- this test scheme, the following objectives were pursued:
lation. The other monitoring point was on top of the concrete slabs,
and represented the acceleration after isolation. By comparing the (1) Measure the isolation effectiveness of various rubber bear-
two accelerations, isolation effectiveness of the bearings under ings under the design compressive stress for the rubber
particular vibration frequencies and intensities were evaluated. bearings, i.e. 3 MPa for the thick bearing and 10 MPa for
the thin bearing.
4. Loading scheme (2) Measure the isolation effectiveness of various rubber bear-
ings under 70% of the design compressive stress of the rub-
Two stages of tests were conducted. In the first stage, the tests ber bearings, i.e. 7 MPa for the thin bearings and 2 MPa for
examined the acceleration transfer coefficients for varying the thick bearings.

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4 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Fig. 2. Test setup: (a) concrete blocks; (b) vibrator; (c) force sensors.

(3) Measure the isolation effectiveness of the rubber bearings As shown in Fig. 4(a) and (b), for both the HDR and NR thick
under varying intensities of vibration. rubber bearings, only one resonance peak was observed within
the test frequency range, whereas multiple resonance peaks were
5. Isolation effectiveness under design compressive stress observed for both the HDR and NR thin rubber bearings within
the test frequencies [Fig. 4(c) and (d)].
Fig. 4 shows the results of tests carried out on the four types of To explain the occurrence of the resonance peaks, a finite ele-
rubber bearings under their design levels of compressive stress to ment model was built using a general finite element program
verify isolation effectiveness. The horizontal axis represents the called Sap2000 [21]. The FEA model consisted of the rubber bear-
test frequency, which was from 10 Hz to 300 Hz. In the range, ings and concrete blocks. The rubber bearings were analyzed using
10–100 Hz, data was recorded at every 10 Hz increment. In the a Link element with a design stiffness. Concrete blocks were ana-
range 100–300 Hz, data was recorded at every 20 Hz increment. lyzed using a solid element and adjusted to the actual weight used
The data recording interval decreased near the resonance fre- in the test. Table 6 shows the experimental and analytical reso-
quency. The vertical axis represents the acceleration transfer coef- nance frequencies for the four types of rubber bearings. Note that
ficient k, which is defined as: the resonance frequencies given for the tests were not a specific
value but a range. This is because the frequency recording interval
a2
k¼ ; ð9Þ was 5 Hz near the resonance points, so that the resolution for the
a1
experimental resonance frequency was 5 Hz.
where a1 is the maximum acceleration of monitoring point 1 which As shown in Table 6, for HDR and NR thick rubber bearings,
represents the vibration intensity before isolation, and a2 is the the experimental values agreed well with the analytical values.
maximum acceleration of monitoring point 2, which represents However, for HDR and NR thin rubber bearings, the second ana-
the vibration intensity after isolation. If k was less than unity, it lytical resonance frequencies were out of the testing frequency
showed the rubber bearings mitigated vibration. If k was greater range, which did not agree with the test results given in
than unity, it showed the vibration increased after isolation. Fig. 4(c) and (d). The test curves in Fig. 4(c) and (d) show peaks

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 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 5

Monitoring point 2

Concrete block
Force sensor

Steel cushion
Rubber isolator

Acceleration sensor Concrete floor

Monitoring point 1

Anchor Actuator
Support Support

Fig. 3. Locations of monitoring points.

5 5
Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Frequency f [Hz] Frequency f [Hz]

(a) (b)
5 5
Acc. transfer coefficient
Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0
0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Frequency f [Hz] Frequency f [Hz]

(c) (d)
Fig. 4. Test results under design levels of compressive stress: (a) HDR-thick; (b) NR-thick; (c) HDR-thin; (d) NR-thin.

at the first theoretical resonance frequency, but the other peaks Fig. 5 presents the relationship between the transfer coefficient
were unexpected in the theoretical analysis. Although this mul- and the normalized frequency to further illustrate the isolation
tiple peak phenomenon could not be well explained by the FEM effectiveness of the four types of rubber bearings. In the figure,
analysis, the phenomenon itself might be helpful to explain the horizontal axis is the frequency ratio between the testing fre-
why the field measurement shows that using common rubber quency and the first theoretical resonance frequency of the scaled
bearings to mitigate metro vibration is not effective in some specimens under design compressive stress. The vertical axis is the
cases [19]. acceleration transfer coefficient k, which is the ratio between the

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6 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Table 6
Resonance frequency for design compressive stress.

Specimens type Experimental resonance frequency [Hz] Resonance frequency analyzed by

Sap2000 [Hz]
HDR thick 37.5–42.5 36.02 316.13
NR thick 17.5–22.5 19.36 313.60
HDR thin 27.5–32.5 95–100 135–145 38.97 612.50
NR thin 25–30 92.5–97.5 29.01 612.50

5 5

Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2
2
1
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Frequency ratio Frequency ratio f / f
1

(a) (b)

5 5
Acc. transfer coefficient
Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency ratio f / f Frequency ratio f /f
1 1

(c) (d)
Fig. 5. Normalized test results under design levels of compressive stress: (a) HDR-thick; (b) NR-thick; (c) HDR-thin; (d) NR-thin.

excitation acceleration and the acceleration after isolation. The natural rubber bearings. Although some of the peaks were not in
rubber bearings tested were 1/10 scaled specimens. The test fre- the sensitive range for metro generated vibrations, it still sug-
quency ranged from 10 Hz to 300 Hz. For the full size rubber bear- gested that the resonance range for the thick natural rubber bear-
ings, the major frequency for the metro generated vibration was ing was much less than that for the thick high damping rubber
from 30 Hz to 80 Hz. To examine the isolation effectiveness under bearings.
metro generate vibration, the major frequency range of the metro
generated vibration was marked grey in Fig. 5. The minimum and
the maximum values of the range were determined by dividing 6. Isolation effectiveness under 70% of design compressive
30 Hz and 80 Hz by the first theoretical resonance frequency of stress
the corresponding full size specimens.
As shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b), for the HDR and NR thick rubber In real isolation projects, a lower compressive stress than the
bearings, k remained less than unity in the metro affected area, design compressive stress is permitted in conventional base isola-
which indicated a stable and positive isolation effectiveness. Nor- tion design practice. To investigate the isolation effectiveness
malization results for HDR and NR thin rubber bearings are given under a compressive stress lower than the design value, 70% of
in Fig. 5(c) and (d). Because of the multi-peak phenomenon, the the design compressive stress was applied to the specimens and
isolation effectiveness of thin rubber bearings was not as effective the results are given in Fig. 6. Similarly, for both HDR and NR thick
as that of the thick rubber bearings. For some particular frequen- rubber bearings, only one resonance peak was observed within the
cies, the vibration was magnified by many times, which made it test frequency range [Fig. 6(a) and (b)], whereas multiple reso-
unsafe under some conditions. nance peaks were observed for the HDR and NR thin rubber bear-
Comparing the results for the thick high damping rubber bear- ings within the test frequency [Fig. 6(c) and (d)].
ings [Fig. 5(a)] and those for thick natural rubber bearings [Fig. 5 Finite element analyses were also carried out using SAP 2000,
(b)], it was found that the frequency widths for high damping thick and the results are compared with the test results in Table 7. As
rubber bearings were significantly greater than those for the thick shown in Table 7, for HDR and NR thick rubber bearings, the two
resonance peaks that occurred in the tests agreed well with those

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 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 7

5 5

Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Frequency f [Hz] Frequency f [Hz]
(a) (b)
5 5
Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Frequency f [Hz] Frequency f [Hz]
(c) (d)
Fig. 6. Test results under 70% of design compressive stress: (a) HDR-thick; (b) NR-thick; (c) HDR-thin; (d) NR-thin.

Table 7
Resonance frequency for 70% of the design compressive stress.

Specimens type Experimental resonance frequency [Hz] Resonance frequency analyzed by

Sap2000 [Hz]
HDR thick 47.5–52.5 245–255 43.96 226.32
NR thick 22.5–27.5 230–240 23.70 222.17
HDR thin 27.5–32.5 40–45 85–90 46.51 540.96
NR thin 27.5–32.5 92.5–97.5 34.70 540.96

obtained from the analyses. However, for HDR and NR thin rubber generated excitation. Therefore, for an actual metro generated
bearings under 70% of the design compressive stress, the phe- excitation, the isolation was still effective.
nomenon was very similar to those under the full design compres- Fig. 7(b) shows the normalized results for the NR thick rubber
sive stress. The second analytical resonance frequencies were out bearings. The acceleration transfer coefficient k was much less than
of the test range, whereas more than one resonance peak appeared unity in the metro affected area. This indicated good isolation
in the test. effectiveness for the NR thick rubber bearings. At the second reso-
The results of the test under 70% of the design compressive nance vibration under 2 MPa, where the frequency ratio was
stress were also normalized and are shown in Fig. 7. The horizontal between nine and ten, k was relatively large, but the peak value
axis presents the frequency ratio between the test frequency and was still less than unity.
the theoretical first order resonance frequency of the scaled spec- The second peaks in Fig. 7(a) and (b) suggested that, in the
imens under 70% of the design compressive stress. The vertical axis process of metro isolation design, high order modes of the struc-
is the acceleration transfer coefficient k, which is the ratio between ture should also be considered beside the first order vibration.
the excitation acceleration and acceleration after isolation. The When using rubber bearings to mitigate subway vibration, the
metro affected area drawn in grey was labeled with the normalized high order modes may occur in the frequency range of the metro
figures. The abscissa minimum and maximum values of the area generated vibration, which makes the isolation inefficient. In
were determined by dividing 30 Hz and 80 Hz by the theoretical particular, when the actual compressive stress was less than the
first order resonance frequency of the full size specimens under design compressive stress, higher modes were more likely to
70% of the design compressive stress, respectively. occur, which made consideration of the high order modes more
For HDR thick rubber bearings [Fig. 7(a)], because of the exis- necessary.
tence of the second mode of vibration, the acceleration transfer Normalization results for the HDR and NR thin rubber bearings
coefficient k was not always less than unity in the metro effect are given in Fig. 7(c) and (d). Because of the multi peak phe-
area. This suggested that the vibration of some frequencies in the nomenon, the isolation effectiveness of thin rubber bearings was
metro vibration range was increased by the rubber bearings. How- not as effective as that of the thick rubber bearings. For some par-
ever, the frequency range in which the vibration was increased was ticular frequencies, the vibration was magnified many times,
quite narrow compared to the whole frequency range for metro which made it unsafe in some conditions.

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8 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

5 5

Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient
4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency ratio Frequency ratio f / f
1
(a) (b)

5 5

Acc. transfer coefficient

Acc. transfer coefficient

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0
0 0 2 4 6 8 10
0 2 4 6 8
Frequency ratio f / f Frequency ratio f /f
1
1

(c) (d)
Fig. 7. Normalized test results under 70% of design compressive stress: (a) HDR-thick; (b) NR-thick; (c) HDR-thin; (d) NR-thin.

0.7 1.5
Acc. transfer coefficient

0.6
Acc. transfer coefficient

1.2
0.5
0.4 0.9
0.3
0.6
0.2
0.1 0.3

0 0
80 85 90 95 100 105 80 85 90 95 100 105 110
L (dB) L (dB)
a a
(a) (b)

0.14 0.4
Acc. transfer coefficient

0.12
Acc. transfer coefficient

0.1 0.3

0.08
0.2
0.06
0.04
0.1
0.02
0 0
75 80 85 90 95 100 80 85 90 95 100 105 110
L (dB) L (dB)
a a

(c) (d)
Fig. 8. Isolation effectiveness under varying intensities: (a) HDR-thick; (b) NR-thick; (c) HDR-thin; (d) NR-thin.

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 P. Pan et al. / Measurement xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 9

7. Isolation effectiveness under varying intensities Acknowledgments

In the test we examined the acceleration transfer coefficient The authors are grateful to Bridgestone Corporation of Japan for
under varying excitation intensities under the design pressure. kindly providing the test specimen, and grateful to Mr. Yu Sakurai,
The testing frequencies were 10 Hz, 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 150 Hz, Mr. Masahiro Nakamura, and Mr. Nobuo Murota of the corporation
200 Hz, 250 Hz, and 300 Hz. The results show that, the acceleration for their important assistance to the test. Financial support from
transfer coefficient k remained stable or decreased when the exci- the Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.
tation intensity increased. It meant for all four types of rubber 51422809 and 51578314, Beijing science and technology program
bearings, the isolation effectiveness was stable or even better under Grant No. Z161100001216015, and Tsinghua University Ini-
under larger vibrations. tiative Scientific Research Program under Grant No. 2014Z22067
As an example, the results for all four types of rubber bearings are also gratefully acknowledged.
at 150 Hz under the respective design compressive stresses are
shown in Fig. 8. The horizontal axis is the vibration acceleration References
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Please cite this article in press as: P. Pan et al., Experimental investigation on the effectiveness of laminated rubber bearings to isolate metro generated
vibration, Measurement (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2017.07.019