Vibration analysis of steel–concrete composite floors when subjected to rhythmic human activities

Abstract

The main objective of this research work is to investigate the dynamic structural response of floors, when subjected to rhythmic human activities (aerobics), based on experimental tests and numerical modelling. The focus of this investigation is to assess the human comfort of floors, initially, simulating the individuals by traditional “force only” models and after that the effect of the people–structure dynamic interaction is considered based on the modelling of SDOF biodynamic models (mass–spring–damper systems). This way, the analysed structural model is related to a steel–concrete composite building, which is composed of three floors, with dimensions of 20 × 20 m, total area of 1200 m2 (3 × 400 m2) and a ceiling height of 4 m. The numerical modelling of the structure was performed based on the use of the ANSYS computational program and utilising the Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations. Aiming to evaluate the human comfort of the investigated composite floors, the dynamic characteristics of the individuals (mass, damping and stiffness) were experimentally obtained to introduce them into the developed biodynamic modelling. Thus, the dynamic response of the investigated composite floors was evaluated in terms of the peak accelerations, RMS and VDV values, based on current human comfort criteria. The results found along this investigation have indicated significant reductions of the peak accelerations values, when the biodynamic systems were considered in comparison with the results provided by the “force only” models.