Exploring Human-Crowd Interaction in Structural Monitoring: Insights from Two Decades of Events at the G. Meazza stadium

Abstract

In recent times, a growing body of research has emerged to evaluate how structures respond to dynamic forces generated by human activities. Notably, stadiums and sports arenas require significant attention due to the presence of spectators during events such as football matches and concerts. The way the crowd behaves during such events causes significant vibration levels which can be critical for both human comfort and structural integrity. Generally, the interaction between humans and structures is a significant concern in structural health monitoring. While a structure behavior may be considered deterministic (albeit challenging to predict), the forces exerted by crowds are inherently variable and uncontrollable. A critical aspect is related to the fact that studying the crowd behavior is a complex task, because modelling it not only implies engineering knowledge but also taking into account other complex factors, e.g., the social and psychological aspects of human behavior. In this context, this paper uniquely contributes by presenting and analyzing real-world vibration data gathered by the monitoring system of the G. Meazza stadium in Milan. This extensive dataset, built over the past 15 years, represents a one-of-a-kind contribution in the literature on stadiums and sport arenas, offering valuable insights into possible factors that influenced the evolution of crowd behavior during large-scale events.