Improved model for human induced vibrations of high-frequency floors

The key UK design guidelines published by the Concrete Society and Concrete Centre for single human walking excitation of high-frequency floors were introduced more than 10 years ago. The corresponding walking force model is derived using a set of single footfalls recorded on a force plate and it features a deterministic approach which contradicts the stochastic nature of human-induced loading, including intra- and inter- subject variability. This paper presents an improved version of this force model for high-frequency floors with statistically defined parameters derived using a comprehensive database of walking force time histories, comprising multiple successive footfalls that are continuously measured on an instrumented treadmill. The improved model enables probability-based prediction of vibration levels for any probability of non-exceedance, while the existing model allows for vibration prediction related to 75% probability of non-exceedance for design purposes. Moreover, the improved model shifts the suggested cut-off frequency between low- and high-frequency floors from 10 Hz to 14 Hz. This is to account for higher force harmonics that can still induce the resonant vibration response and to avoid possible significant amplification of the vibration response due to the near-resonance effect. Minor effects of near-resonance are taken into account by a damping factor. The performance of the existing and the improved models is compared against numerical simulations carried out using a finite element model of a structure and the treadmill forces. The results show that while the existing model tends to overestimate or underestimate the vibration levels depending on the pacing rate, the new model provides statistically reliable estimations of the vibration responses. Hence, it can be adopted in a new generation of the design guidelines featuring a probabilistic approach to vibration serviceability assessment of high-frequency floors.