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Abstract
Damping ratios associated with non-structural elements play an important role in mitigating the pedestrian-induced vibrations of slender footbridges. In particular, this paper analyses the effect of vinyl flooring on the modal parameters of steel footbridges. Motivated by the unexpected high experimental damping ratios of the first vibration modes of a real footbridge, whose deck was covered by a vinyl flooring, this paper aims at assessing more accurately the experimental damping ratios generated by this non-structural element on steel footbridges. For this purpose, a laboratory footbridge was built and vinyl flooring was installed on it. Its numerical and experimental modal parameters without and with the vinyl flooring were determined. The operational modal analysis method was used to estimate experimentally the modal parameters of the structure. The damping ratios associated with the vinyl flooring were obtained via the substraction between the experimental damping ratios of the laboratory footbridge with and without the vinyl flooring. An average increase of the damping ratios of 2.069% was observed due to the vinyl flooring installed. According to this result, this type of pavement may be a useful tool to significantly increase the damping ratios of steel footbridges in order to reduce pedestrian-induced vibrations.
Highlights
Modern footbridges are prone to vibrate under pedestrian-induced loading, due to two main factors: their first natural frequencies usually lie inside the frequency ranges which characterize the rhythmic human activities [1] and they usually exhibit low damping ratios [2]
The effect of vinyl flooring on the modal properties of steel footbridges has been analyzed
The Jorge Manrique footbridge is a bowstring arch structure located at Murcia (Spain)
Summary
Modern footbridges are prone to vibrate under pedestrian-induced loading, due to two main factors: their first natural frequencies usually lie inside the frequency ranges which characterize the rhythmic human activities [1] and they usually exhibit low damping ratios [2]. Two methods are usually used to control the vibratory response of slender structures under pedestrian action [2]: either (i) to modify the natural frequencies of the structure; or (ii) to increase the damping ratios of the structure (or both). The second method is usually applied to existing structures or it can be applied during the design phase if the slenderness of the structure makes impossible to control its response via the modification of either its stiffness or its mass [7].
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