Why is Human Induced Vibration so important to engineers
An extremely important consideration for engineers when creating structures is human induced vibration i.e. vibrations caused by human footfall.
Although this might cause many of us to think of collapsing buildings and unstable bridges, the impact of human induced vibration is actually a lot less dramatic, for example, simply making those using the structure feel uncomfortable. Here, we take a look at why human induced vibration must be considered within the design process and its potential effects.
Resonance vibration vs impulse vibration
Firstly, there are two ways that human-induced vibrations affect structures: resonant, and impulse or transient response.
In simple terms, resonance occurs when Object A vibrates at the same natural frequency as Object B. Object B resonates with this and begins to vibrate too. Think singing to break a wine glass!
Although the person singing isn’t touching the glass, the vibrations of their voice are resonating with the glass’s natural frequency, causing this vibration to get stronger and stronger and eventually, break the glass. In the case of a structure, resonance occurs when the pedestrian’s feet land in time with the vibration.
Instead, impulse or transient vibration responses can be a problem on structures where its natural frequencies are too high for resonance to occur, such as where the structure is light or stiff. Here the discomfort is caused by the initial “bounce” of the structure caused by the footstep and is a concern on light or stiff structures.
Engineers must, of course, design to reduce the vibration effects caused by either impulse or resonance.
Effects of human induced vibration
Human induced vibration can result in a number of effects. These include:
- Interfering with sensitive equipment. Depending on the building’s purpose, what it houses can be affected by the vibrations of people using the building. Universities and laboratories, for example, may have sensitive equipment whose accuracy and performance could be damaged by vibrations. Even in ordinary offices the footfall vibration can wobble computer screens, upsetting the workers.
- Swaying bridges. One of the most famous examples of human-induced resonance impacting a structure occurred with the Millennium Bridge. As people walked across the bridge, the footsteps caused the bridge to sway, and everybody had to walk in time with the sway because it was difficult not to. Thankfully, this feedback can only occur with horizontal vibrations so building floors are safe from it, but footbridges need careful checking to prevent it.
- Human discomfort. According to research, vibrations in buildings and structures can cause depression and even motion sickness in inhabitants. Tall buildings sway in the wind and footsteps can be felt, even subconsciously by the occupants. It has been argued that modern efficient designs featuring thinner floor slabs and wider spacing in column design mean that these new builds are not as effective at dampening vibrations as older buildings are.
- Jeopardising structural integrity. The build-up of constant vibrations on a structure can, eventually, lead to structural integrity being compromised. A worse-case scenario would be the complete collapse of the structure and is the reason some bridges insist that marching troops break step before crossing. Crowds jumping in time to music or in response to a goal in a stadium are also dynamic loads that might damage an under-designed structure.
Eliminating effects
To avoid human induced vibration, modern designs that favour thinner slabs and wider column spacing are particularly susceptible to all forms of vibration, human-induced or otherwise, but short spans can also suffer due to their low mass.
Using sophisticated structural design software is an effective method for engineers to test for and mitigate footfall and other vibrations at the design stage.
