Human-Induced Excitations and Vibrations Serviceability of Civil Engineering Structures

Human-induced excitations and serviceability have become more pronounced for civil structures as the use of lighter construction materials is more widespread and slender architectural designs are the predominant trend. While the floor systems are becoming more “paperless”, lightly damped and low-frequency, the structures are becoming more susceptible to unwanted vibrations. Human activities like walking, running, jumping, dancing, aerobics, etc. result in unwanted vibrations on civil structures for which people tend to have different tolerance levels. Humans are both the excitation source and the sensor which makes the vibrations serviceability research challenging and interesting. In light of the above, a better understanding is needed on the dynamic nature of human-induced excitations and the serviceability of civil engineering structures.

There has been on-going research on human-induced excitations and vibration serviceability assessment for convention centers, concert halls, elevated floors, stairs, footbridges and stadia structures. The goal of this research topic is to present the recent analytical and experimental research as well as advancements on human-induced excitations and vibrations serviceability for all civil structures.

The scope of this research topic includes but is not limited to:
• Advanced testing/sensing and monitoring methods for vibration serviceability assessment
• Crowd movement on structures such as footbridges, stadia, elevated floors, staircases
• Uncertainty in vibration serviceability assessment
• Passive, active, semi-active control of vibrations
• Damping in vibration serviceability assessment
• Human-structure interaction
• Design guidelines and criteria on vibrations serviceability
• Finite element modeling for vibration serviceability assessment
• Non-structural partitions and their effect on vibration response