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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 88
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL STRUCTURES TECHNOLOGY
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping and M. Papadrakakis
Paper 304

Vibration Analysis of Long Span Joist Floors Submitted to Dynamic Loads from Human Activities

J.G.S. da Silva1, P.C.G. da S. Vellasco2, S.A.L. de Andrade2, L.R.O. de Lima2 and R.R. de Almeida3

1Mechanical Engineering Department,
2Structural Engineering Department,
3Civil Engineering Post-Graduate Programme - PGECIV,
State University of Rio de Janeiro - UERJ, Brazil

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
J.G.S. da Silva, P.C.G. da S. Vellasco, S.A.L. de Andrade, L.R.O. de Lima, R.R. de Almeida, "Vibration Analysis of Long Span Joist Floors Submitted to Dynamic Loads from Human Activities", in B.H.V. Topping, M. Papadrakakis, (Editors), "Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 304, 2008. doi:10.4203/ccp.88.304
Keywords: composite floors, structural dynamics, human comfort, human rhythmic activities, steel and composite structures, computational modelling.

Summary
The increasing incidence of building vibration problems due to human rhythmic activities led to a specific design criterion for rhythmic excitations to be addressed in structural design. This was the main motivation for the development of a design methodology centred on the structural system dynamical response submitted to dynamic loads resulting from human activities [1,2,3].

This paper investigated the dynamic behaviour of composite floors (steel-concrete) subjected to the human rhythmic activities. The dynamic loads were obtained through experimental tests conducted with individuals carrying out rhythmic and non-rhythmic activities such as stimulated and non-stimulated jumping and aerobics [2].

The proposed analysis methodology adopted the usual mesh refinement techniques present in finite element simulations implemented in the ANSYS program [4]. Based on the experimental results, human load functions due to rhythmic and non-rhythmic activities were proposed.

The investigated structural system was a typical floor used as a restaurant with an adjacent dancing area. The structural system consisted of long span joists (14m) supported by concrete block walls. The floor effective weight was estimated to be equal to 3.6kPa, including 0.6kPa for people dancing and dining. The effective composite moment of inertia of the joists was selected based on its required strength, ie: 1.1x106 mm4 [1,3].

The parametric study considered correlations between analytical and numerical results found in the literature. The peak acceleration values were compared to the limits proposed by design recommendations [4,5], based on human comfort criteria. The results indicated that the limits suggested by design recommendations were not satisfied. Such fact indicated that these rhythmic activities could generate peak accelerations that surpass design criteria limits developed for ensuring human comfort.

References
1
Almeida R.R. de, "Análise de Vibrações em Sistemas Estruturais para Pisos Mistos com Joists Submetidos a Atividades Humanas Rítmicas" (Vibration Analysis of Composite Joist Floors Subjected to Human Rhythmic Activities), MSc Dissertation (In Portuguese), Civil Engineering Post-Graduate Programme, PGECIV, State University of Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. 1-154, 2008.
2
Faísca R.G., "Caracterização de Cargas Dinâmicas Geradas por Atividades Humanas" (Characterization of Dynamic Loads due to Human Activities), PhD Thesis (In Portuguese), COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, pp. 1-240, 2003.
3
Murray T.M., Allen D.E., Ungar E.E., "Floor Vibration Due to Human Activity", Steel Design Guide Series, AISC, Chicago, USA, 1997.
4
ANSYS, "Swanson Analysis Systems", Inc. P.O. Box 65, Johnson Road, Houston, PA. 15342-0065, Version 5.5. Basic analysis procedures. Second edition, 1998.
5
International Standard Organization. "Evaluation of Human Exposure to Whole-Body Vibration, Part 2: Human Exposure to Continuous and Shock-Induced Vibrations in Buildings (1 to 80Hz)", International Standard. ISO 2631-2, 1989.

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