Noise & vibration control
The current international transport situation, with growing urban transport, increasing numbers of high-speed vehicles and more rail freight, calls for a heightened focus on railway noise and vibration. Including these aspects in the design process is vital and Lloyd’s Register can offer you more than 20 years of worldwide noise and vibration experience in the rail transport sector.
How we can help
We can specify noise and vibration requirements and/or help you meet regulatory levels or targets by applying proven design rules.
We can verify the compliance of a rail system or component with these targets, for example:
Controlling the environmental impact of a new rail system in terms of airborne noise or ground borne noise and vibrations transmitted from a track to the dwellings. We use commercial and in-house developed software for predictions supplemented by on site measurements (e.g. soil transmission properties).
Low-noise design of rolling stock, including review of specifications, prediction of internal and external noise, design review, control of noise sources
Troubleshooting in case of noise exceedance, including diagnosis and definition of mitigation measures
Design of tracks (low-noise or anti-vibration), bridges, tunnels and stations
Specific measurements of wheel and rail roughness, track decay rates to check compliance with standards (e.g. ISO3095:2005) or Technical Specifications of Interoperability (TSI)
Prediction and measurement of sound quality criteria, as loudness or RASTI figures for the passenger privacy or the intelligibility performance of the PA-system in a rail vehicle or a station
TSI assessments.
What are the benefits?
Our up-to-date knowledge of standards and regulation (TSI, ISO standards, codes for environmental impact), ensures compliance of your product or system with noise and vibration requirements whatever the context
When choosing the consultancy services of Lloyd’s Register you will benefit from our highly specialized experts’ ability to choose the most suitable tools (commercial or in-house developed) to meet your requirements
Our extensive network within rail and acoustic engineering enables us to give our clients relevant industrial recommendations with the aim of reaching a cost/benefit optimum.
Recent projects
Lloyd’s Register recently carried out a ground borne noise and vibration impact study of a suburban line in Bilbao, Spain. A new line into a cut-and-cover tunnel which replaced an existing line at grade prompted a need for predicting the impact inside dwellings. Predictions were performed with our software, ODS-Gronav, and completed using experimental data from on site measurements (i.e. track and soil mobilities, ground velocity levels). Industrial mitigation measures were recommended where necessary.
On-going low-noise design of X60 train (and of several other rail vehicles, e.g. metro, commuter train, tramway). Lloyd’s Register handled all noise issues on behalf of the manufacturer during the entire project phase (2-3 years), including definition of a global noise strategy, predictions, specification of noise sources and train components, assembly tests, type test and interface role between client and suppliers.
At the request of RFF (Réseau Ferré de France), Lloyd’s Register incorporated a noise emission monitoring module on the Gotcha platform. The basis for this module is a noise monitoring terminal which is designed for permanent monitoring of environmental noise. The information from the terminal is transferred to the Gotcha cabinet for further processing and integration with train passage information and then sent to a central server. The information is subsequently distributed to users within RFF and SNCF (French Railways) through a web-based user interface.
In the Whispering Train Programme, Lloyd's Register is involved in an investigation of the impact on wheel roundness of various brake blocks as a means of reducing noise emissions.
Next steps...
Find out more by contacting us today