Building vibration induced by sonic boom - field test in Russia

Abstract Infrasound and audible sound at very low frequency from sources such as military aircrafts, explosions and wind mills can induce building vibration involving both rattling and whole-body vibration strong enough to cause annoyance. Sonic boom is of special interest in this context due to its very low frequency content that coincides with the most important frequency range for both building vibration and human perception. This paper presents results from field tests with measurements of noise and building vibrations from sonic booms performed at the Tretyakovo airport in Russia. Transmission loss from outdoor to indoor noise, noise induced floor vibration and whole building vibration are determined. Furthermore, the measured acoustic vibration admittance is used to estimate vibration values in the same building from low boom flight passages using synthesized sound pressure time series. Boom induced floor vibration both from the measured flight passages in Russia and from synthesized low boom time series are estimated also for a lightweight wooden building, using previously measured acoustic vibration admittances. The results clearly show perceptible levels of vibrations from sonic boom along with a great influence of the building type which indicates that there can be a big difference between the European countries depending on the building tradition. Finally, it is shown that outdoor sound levels weighted with the C-curve correlates best with frequency weighted floor vibration values.