Evaluation of floor vibrations induced by walking in reinforced concrete buildings

Floor vibrations induced by human walking were investigated in a reinforced concrete structure. Six experimental floor structures were built in laboratories with the same dimensions and boundary conditions. Subjective tests were performed to assess the vibration serviceability of the floor structures. First, the subjects were asked to walk across a floor and then to rate the intensity of the vibrations, acceptability, and serviceability of the floors. In the second part of the tests, the subjects were seated on a chair placed in the middle of the floor and asked to rate floor vibrations when the walker passed the subjects. Floor vibrations induced by human walking were analyzed using peak acceleration, root mean square (r.m.s.) acceleration, and the vibration dose value (VDV), and four weighting functions (Wb, Wk, Wg, and Wm) were applied. Significant differences in the measured floor vibration were found across the floor structures, larger floor vibration lead to greater perceived vibration intensity, lower acceptability and serviceability. The Wb and Wk were found to be more applicable than Wg and Wm to explain perception of floor vibration. It was observed that the impact noise induced by walking did not influence the evaluation of floor vibration.