Human-Induced Vibrations in Buildings

Occupant footfalls are often the most critical source of floor vibration on upper floors of buildings. Floor motions can degrade the performance of imaging equipment, disrupt sensitive research equipment, and cause discomfort for the occupants. It is essential that low-vibration environments be provided for functionality of sensitive spaces on floors above grade. This requires a sufficiently stiff and massive floor structure that effectively resists the forces exerted from user traffic. Over the past 25 years, generic vibration limits have been developed, which provide frequency dependent sensitivities for wide classes of equipment, and are used extensively in lab design for healthcare and research facilities. The same basis for these curves can be used to quantify acceptable limits of vibration for human comfort, depending on the intended occupancy of the space. When available, manufacturer's vibration criteria for sensitive equipment are expressed in units of acceleration, velocity or displacement and can be specified as zero-to-peak, peak-to-peak, or root-mean-square (rms) with varying frequency ranges and resolutions. Several approaches to prediction of floor vibrations are currently applied in practice. Each method is traceable to fundamental structural dynamics, differing only in the level of complexity assumed for the system response, and the required information for use as model inputs. Three commonly used models are described, as well as key features they possess that make them attractive to use for various applications. A case study is presented of a tall building which has fitness areas on two of the upper floors. The analysis predicted that the motions experienced would be within the given criteria, but showed that if the floor had been more flexible, the potential exists for a locked-in resonance response which could have been felt over large portions of the building.