Introduction of Floor Vibration

for Steel Structures

ENCE710 – Advanced Steel Structures

C. C. Fu, Ph.D., P.E.

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

Background
 The first criteria in designing floor for service ability starts nearly 180
years ago. Tredgold (1828) wrote that girders over long spans
should be made “deep” to avoid the inconvenience of not being able
to move on the floor without shaking everything in the room.
 Traditionally, soldiers "break step" when marching across bridges to
avoid large, potentially dangerous, resonant vibration.
 The example of the millennium bridge.
 A traditional stiffness criterion limits floor deflection due to live load
= span/360. This limitation has limited success in controlling floor
vibration.
 Resonance has been ignored in the design of floors and footbridges
until recently.
 Dynamic amplification.
 Rhythmic activities, such as aerobics and high-impact dancing, can cause serious
floor vibration problems due to resonance.
Types of Dynamic Loading

 (a) Harmonic
load (Machine)
 (b) Periodic
load (Dancing)
 (c) Transient
load (Walking)
 (d) Impulsive
load (Jumping)

Dynamic Resonance

Factors affecting
the dynamic
amplification:
damping, ω and
ωn
 Peak Acceleration for Human
Comfort for Vibrations
Acceptance criteria for peak
floor acceleration with
frequency ranges from 4 Hz to
8 Hz.
 Office (0.005 g).
 Gym (0.05 g) ~ 10 times office
acceptance.
 Shopping mall (0.015 g) ~ 3
times office acceptance.
Acceptance criteria for peak
floor acceleration increases
outside the
frequency range from 4 Hz to
8 Hz.

Dynamic Force – Human Activities

resonance response function

 Response to Sinusoidal Force

The time-dependent repeated force

can be represented by the Fourier
series

Design for Peak Floor Acceleration

(Eq. 2.2)

(Table 4.1)
(Eqs. 4.2, 4.3a, b, 4.4)

(Eq. 4.1)
 Natural Frequency of Floor System

Combined mode

Floor Evaluation Calculation Procedure

transformed slab moment of inertia per unit width

effective width for joist

effective panel weights for joist

Floor Evaluation Calculation Procedure

effective width for beam

effective panel weights for beam

Floor Evaluation Calculation Procedure

equivalent panel weight

damping ratio

acceleration limit
5.7 kips per in.