Methods for predicting the ambient vibration and noise resulting from rail transit

With the rapid development of rail transit and the increase of the train speed, problem of vibration and noise induced by trains has been increasingly standing out and becoming one of the focusing environmental issues by the public. A large number of systematic studies, including theoretical approaches, numerical models, field tests, and control measures, have been carried out by scholars around the world. A series of research findings have been obtained, and many effective vibration and noise reduction technologies and products have been developed. In this paper, a survey of the studies conducted on the methods for predicting the ambient vibration and noise resulting from rail transit is presented, with particular emphasis on the following four kinds of prediction methods, i.e. the wave-number frequency domain method, the combined method based on field tests, the numerical method, and the statistical energy method. Finally, some problems that need further studies are pointed out. It is expected that studies on ambient vibration and noise resulting from rail transit will be ongoing in the days to come, due to the construction boom of rail transit all over the world.