Analysis and visualization of traffic-induced low frequency sound radiated from bridges

Abstract

This study is intended to examine the traffic-induced low frequency sound radiated from a highway bridge in design stage by means of a three-dimensional bridge- vehicle interactive analysis and a boundary element method (BEM). The three- dimensional bridge-vehicle interactive analysis was adopted to estimate velocity responses of the bridge, and the BEM was used to simulate the propagation of the low frequency sound pressure level (SPL) around the bridge utilizing simulated velocity responses of the bridge. The influence of road surface roughness and hump at the expansion joint of the bridge to radiation characteristics of the low frequency sound is also discussed. This study also proposed a method for expressing the sound field around the bridge in the time domain.