An Effective Alternative to the Open Trench Method for Mitigating Ground-Borne Environmental Body Waves: Corrugated Cardboard Boxes Reinforced with Balsa Wood

Abstract

This research develops and evaluates a recyclable corrugated cardboard vibration isolation box reinforced with balsa wood as an alternative to traditional open trench methods for mitigating ground-borne environmental body waves. This study includes designing and testing scaled prototypes, laboratory analyses, prototype fabrication, and full-scale field experiments. In soft ground conditions, ensuring slope stability during deep excavations is a key engineering challenge for open trenches. For this purpose, scaled prototypes were subjected to laboratory tests to assess the resistance of the wave barrier’s wall surface. Numerical analyses were also conducted to evaluate the strength of the internal lattice structure under various loads. A prototype was fabricated for on-site experiments simulating real-world conditions. Field experiments evaluated the vibration isolation performance of the proposed barrier. Accelerometer sensors were strategically placed to gather data, analyzing ground surface vibrations for free field motions to assess the vibration shielding efficiency of both the open trench method and the corrugated vibration isolation box, with and without Styrofoam infill. This study concludes that the recyclable corrugated vibration isolation box is a viable alternative, offering comparable or improved vibration isolation efficiency in soft soil conditions while promoting environmental sustainability using recyclable materials.

Keywords

• corrugated cardboard
• balsa wood
• vibration isolation
• ground-borne environmental body waves
• open trench methods
• recyclable materials