Introduction: Focus, Organization, and Themes PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK This book expands on earlier work, published as Blast Vibration Monitoring and Control (Dowding, 1985), to cover the entire field of construction vibrations. While the blasting book was well received and translated into Chinese and Japanese. it begged extension slong a number of fronts inthe feld of construction. In aition to updating in the blast vibration book where necessary, this book contains much new material. New chapters are devoted to vibrations emanating from a wide range of construction activities, which span the field from conventional pile driving to novel explosive demolition ‘Special chapters on response include topics ranging from micro vibration and its effect cn sensitive electronics to vibratory slope stability. Blasting forms an excellent foundation for construction vibrations. since it is the most energetic and challenging of vibration-producing construction techniques. As such, ithas attracted enough attention to justify considerable expensive field experimentation t0 allow scientific observation of the onset of cracking. Funhermore, blasting experience forms the base for almost all specifications to control construction vibrations. For in stance, while researching the chapter on specifications, no specifications were found for controlling pile-driving vibrations that were not simply an extension of a blast vibration specification ‘Three new chapters illustrate this book's combined attributes of academic textbook ‘on one hand and professional practice handbook on the other. They are the chapters on construction specifications (Chapter 26), software for calculating response spectra (Chapter 31), and answers to problems (Appendix A). Example specifications are in- ‘luded for pile driving, blast densification of sands, and demolition blasting as well as the2 Introduction: Focus, Organization, and Themes Chap. 1 expected sections on rock blasting and air overpressure and noise. The software, NUVIB, is an analytical package designed for the calculation of response and Fourier spectra from ‘a wide range of digital and hard-copy records. This software and its manual are available at no charge over the Internet or on a disk by mail. Finally, over 150 illustrative problems, included in each chapter, are answered at the end of the book. These problems were de- signed to summarize important concepts in each chapter, whose answers further demon- strate both their strategic and quantitative importance. Frequency-based control and analysis are specifically addressed on a practical level. Since adoption of frequency-based control by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and many members of the European Common Market, a concern has developed over the proper method of determining the dominant frequency, Chapter 10 traces the historical development of techniques and compares three methods of frequency determination. Shelves of research and consulting documents have been condensed in this book to provide a perspective for construction and blast vibration control that is not achievabl reading a series of articles. Accumulated wisdom and confusion surrounding vibrations cannot be separated simply within the confines of 20-page articles. Construction consid- erations presented herein have been synthesized from blasting as well as construction lit- ‘erature to present a new perspective based on structural dynamics. Since I began my work in blasting and construction vibration response more than 25 years ago, structural dynamics has fully matured, yet too little experience from the re- lated fields of mechanical dynamics, nuclear blast protective design, and earthquake engi- neering has spilled into construction and blasting vibration. This book is an attempt to close that gap and transfer advances in dynamics to vibration monitoring. Transfer will not be made at an advanced mathematical level, as such efforts have met with only lim- ited success in practice. Rather simplified physical models and results of field experi- ‘ments will be emloyed to allow readers to gain a personal understanding and to convince them of the usefulness of these new developments. ‘A deluge of articles on new products, instrumentation, analytical techniques, and regulations continues to jostle a field that for years relied on 50 mmis (2 im/sec) as the critical vibration level for everything. This book demonstrates why consideration of dom- inant excitation frequency, type of structure, and construction material justify both higher and lower vibration controls. While these considerations complicate vibration monitor- ing, they inject a larger degree of realism than does a one-control-fits-all approach. Just as differing vibration controls can be justified by theoretical considerations, they are also verified by experiment. This book condenses over two decades of research ‘and consulting experience with summaries of experiments published in widely divergent Journals to provide the basis for setting variable controls for the following: Curing concrete Machine vibration ‘Adjacent rock Pile driving Plaster and drywall Blasting (construction and mining) Soil densification Explosive demolition Electrical equipment Dynamic slope stability ‘Tunnels and pipelines Air blastJ 3 How the Book Is Orgar ‘There is an attempt to peer into the computerized future in Chapters 25 and 31. Inexpensive microcomputers have transformed instruments employed for monitoring, and on-board analysis will allow more sophisticated analyses of the data, The instrumentation chapter (Chapter 25) demonstrates the evolution of monitoring technology and describes ‘new concepts that are important for use and understanding of digital data acquisition, The analysis chapter (Chapter 31) describes the use of PC-based analytical software now em- ployed with greater regularity with on-board monitoring equipment. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK Since construction and blast vibrations are monitored and controlled by civil and mining engineers, contractors, regulators, as well as geophysicists and engineering, geologists, this book should be of interest to a broad. spectrum of readers. The very diversity of the ‘group challenges the organization of the book. Geologists have the greatest interest in the transmission of vibration through the rock and soil, contractors and their engineers are interested in the effects of equipment and blast design on the resulting vibration, and reg- ulators and their engineers are interested in building response and control of the proce- dures. All of these needs are addressed in this book. Material is presented at a professional level; it is assumed that the reader will be college educated or is in the later stages of the process. Thus the book is appropriate for professional practice and graduate-level courses in engineering, construction, and con- struction management. As such, it adopts as far as possible an observational or empirical perspective rather than the mathematical or analytical. However, because of the need to understand the importance of frequency in the control of vibration effects, some mathe- matics is required. HOW THE BOOK IS ORGANIZED Chapters were kept small and focused on specific subject areas that cause concem dur- ing construction and blasting. As can be seen in the table of contents, there are separate chapters on the prediction of principal frequency, response of tunnels and pipelines, envi- ronmentally produced crack movement, pile driving, and so on. Readers may turn imme- diately to the topic of interest. If further background is necessary, basic chapters are provided early in the book on the theory behind wave propagation, computation of ‘ground strain, single-degree-of-freedom models, response spectra, ait-blast propagation, and scaling. ‘This book complements books on machine, structural, and soil dynamics as well as blast design, which generally devote only 10 to 20% of their contents to monitoring and mechanisms of excitation, whereas this book is inverted, with 80% devoted to these sub- jects and only 20% to analysis and design. There are three basic sections to the book. The first, comprised of some 13 chapters, focuses on basic concepts that form the basis of the ‘observations in the middle third. Wave propagation and attenuation are presented in the4 Introduction: Focus, Organi first three chapters (Chapters 2-4), and are followed by three chapters on single-degree- of-freedom modeling (SDF) and structural response (Chapters $~7). Observation and documentation of cracking and its relation to response spectra of SDF systems and en- vironmental effects are then described in Chapters 8-13. The middle third presents ex- perimental observations and considerations necessary to control the wide range of construction and blasting activity. Vibrations and air pressure (noise) emanating from var- ious construction activities are described in Chapters 14-17. Vibration-induced perma- nent deformation and ground strains in soil and rock are then described in Chapters 18-22. Human response and instrument sensitivity to micro vibrations as well as the re- lated topics of measurement and specification for control are discussed in Chapters 23-26. The book closes with four chapters on blast design (Chapters 27-30). These chapters were included to demonstrate the interdependency of blast design and resulting vibration. Other books should be consulted for design details and safety issues. WHY FREQUENCY IS IMPORTANT ‘The underlying theme of this book is the importance of frequency. Research in structural dynamics has shown that structures respond differently when excited by vibrations, equal in all respects, but differing in principal frequency. A residential structure will respond less to a 12-mm/s (0.5-in./see) ground motion with a principal frequency of 80-Hz than ‘one at 10 Hz. Therefore, the 80-Hz motion is less likely to crack the structure than isthe 10-Hz motion. Recognition of the importance of frequency has led to the necessity of adopting a vibration monitoring approach that includes frequency. The simplest is based on the sin- gle degree-of-freedom (SDF) mode! for above ground structures and ratio of excitation wavelength to structure size for below ground structures. The SDF model is normally em- ployed through the response spectrum, and relative wavelength considerations are em- ployed through a knowledge of the propagation velocity of the medium around buried structures, ‘The response spectrum, the basis of frequency-based criteria, is constructed from calculated responses of systems that are mathematically equivalent to a heavy weight dangling from a chain of rubber bands. This simple model, which can be built at the reader's desk while studying this book, is employed in Chapter 5 to explain how the re- sponse spectrum integrates considerations of vibration intensity and frequency, WHY BLAST DESIGN IS INCLUDED Blasting. the most challenging and least understood source of construction vibration, is best controlled with a performance specification such as an allowable peak particle veloc- ity at different frequencies rather than a specification of procedures. Unfortunately, such practice usually allows controls to be specified without an understanding of the difficul- ties faced by the blaster. An example will illustrate the danger of such ignorance.The Importance of Regulations s Most blast designs control vibration levels by restricting the amount of explosives detonated at any instant in time (delay). Designs must also ensure that enough explosive is detonated within a given volume of rock to fragment it sufficiently for removal ‘When blasting approaches structures, designs must reduce the amount of explosive detonated at any one instant in time while holding the amount detonated per volume of rock constant. In other words, the explosions must be separated in time but not in space. This separation can be accomplished by drilling more holes per volume of rock or sepa- rating the explosions within single blast holes. Unfortunately, either alternative is more expensive and difficult to carry out, and they both result in either additional blasts or longer blasts. Increasing the number of blasts increases the probability of an accident as well as the annoyance to the adjacent property owners: it obviously increases the cost ‘Thus there is an optimum beyond which the reduction of allowable vibration level (and explosives detonated per delay) may actually lead to increasing difficulties. Sensitivity to the optimum is possible only if those setting criteria are familiar with blast design. That familiarity can be acquired in a relatively painless fashion in Chapters 27-20. (COSMETIC NATURE OF VIBRATION-INDUCED CRACKING ‘The minute size of the hairline cosmetic cracks that define the threshold of cracking, their irrelevance in structural stability, and the difficulties posed by their observation are al- most always forgotten in discussions of blast-induced cracking. Occurrence of vibratory-induced cracking at regulatory limits is based on the visual observation of cosmetic cracks because these hair-sized cracks occur at the lowest vibra- tion levels. All homes contain many cosmetic cracks, and distinction between blast-in- duced and naturally occurring cosmetic cracks is extremely difficult and time consuming. Since structures crack naturally, recording of cosmetic cracks immediately before and after blasting is essential to isolate those that are blast induced, ‘A comparison of strains in walls produced by vibrations and everyday events with those needed to cause threshold-sized cracks in wall-covering, materials gives perspective to the observation of cracking at low vibration levels. Recent measurements show that in the course of daily life, an active family or active occupants of historic buildings will pro- duce strains in walls similar to those produced by blasting vibrations of 2.5 to 12 mm/s (O.L to OS in/sec). The most astonishing measurements. were the relatively enormous wall strains caused by daily changes in temperature and humidity. These alone are large enough to crack plain plaster. A special chapter is devoted to these environmental consid- erations. ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULATIONS No attempt has been made to reconcile the wide variation of regulations between coun- tries. However, the basic scientific studies that form the data base for regulatory decision6 Introduction: Focus, Organization, and Themes Chap. 1 making are presented and compared, Thorough understanding of these studies will allow an assessment of the conservatism in any regulation, Regulations by their nature are conservative controls in a process that is not iso- lated from political concerns. Political concerns generally are focused on the determi tion of the socially acceptable probability of the eecurrence of cracking. Recently, human annoyance has become an important issue in repeated blasting. Annoyance is distinct from cracking, although it may affect the choice of regulatory limits. HOW THIS BOOK HELPS IN PRACTICE Problems encountered in practice have served as a beacon during the writing of this book As a result, many approaches that have been applied successfully in practice by the au- ‘thor are included. In addition to the usual presentation of approaches to predicting and in- ‘erpreting peak particle velocities, answers to the following unusual monitoring questions are included. How can response spectrum analyses be explained simply? A simple rubber-band model is developed to show what a response spectrum is without complicated equations, + How can exceptions to a vibration control be obtained when dominant frequencies dare high? Response spectrum techniques explained in this book allow inclusion of frequency in the determination of safe levels. + How is a preconstruction survey best conducted? ‘A method and forms for conducting the crack survey are presented. + How can an attenuation relationship be determined quickly? The example field test program shows how an attenuation relationship can be deter- mined after only a few tri Is it necessary to set safe controls for unusual situations such as electrical equip- ment, pipelines, and curing concrete? Results of experiments are summarized that will allow the rational determination of controls for these and many other nonstructural concerns. + How are blast designs modified to reduce vibrations? AA design method for reducing vibrations while maintaining production is outlined step by step and is accompanied with examples. What are the effects of repeated, low-level vibrations? Recent experimental results that are presented allow assessment of this factor for the first time, + What is the dominant excitation frequency? Special chapters compare methods of determination from time histories as well as the dominant frequencies produced by construction equipment