GUIDELINES TO MINIMIZE FLOOR VIBRATIONS FROM BUILDING OCCUPANTS

One major serviceability consideration in modern buildings is excessiv e floor vibrations due to occupant activities. Floor vibrations are be coming a more important design consideration with the use of high-stre ngth, light-weight materials in building structures, longer floor span s, and more flexible framing systems. Floor systems in shopping malls, pedestrian walkways and concourses, and gymnasiums are relatively lig ht and susceptible to vibration problems. Methods for accurate predict ion of these vibrations and evaluation of floor systems are not readil y available to the design community. An investigation is made into the characteristics of crowd-induced loads. These characteristics include the density of the crowd, randomness of crowd movement, crowd activit y, and temporal interaction between individuals. Analytical procedures are developed to determine the influence of each load characteristic on the dynamic response of floor systems. Design guidelines are develo ped for floors in malls, gymnasiums, and walkways subject to crowd-ind uced loads.