Theoretical prediction of ground vibrations generated by road vehicles

Ground-borne vibrations represent one of the major adverse environmental impacts of road vehicles, especially of heavy lorries. In the present paper, ground vibrations generated by road vehicles are investigated theoretically. Two main generation mechanisms are considered. The first one is associated with vehicles travelling on rough or bumpy road surfaces, in particular over road humps and speed cushions installed by local authorities at some sensitive road locations. The second mechanism of generation is associated with acceleration and braking of road vehicles. General analytical results are illustrated by numerical examples and are compared with the existing experiments.