VIBRATION
ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND FLOOR (TOP LEVEL) OF THE KUNKLE BUILDING
by
Graduate Student
Department of Architectural
Engineering
Pennsylvania State
University
Lightweight
steel floors sometimes possess levels of vibration, caused by pedestrian
movement, found to be objectionable to the occupants. The mezzanine levels of
the Kunkle Lounge have highly perceptible levels of vibration due to pedestrian
traffic, and would be considered objectionable to both the occupants and with
respect to the current design provisions. Using modern data acquisition
equipment and software, this structure can be experimentally modeled using the
principles of modal analysis. From this model, active control can be implemented
to combat the vibration problem.
This
presentation will attempt to discuss several issues relating to vibrations due
to pedestrian movement. First, a brief overview of the research to date will be
presented, including the current design procedures. Next, the physical
structure and vibration characteristics of the top level of the Kunkle Building
will be discussed, with emphasis on vibration data collection. This will
include a brief discussion of theoretical principles of floor vibration, but it
will focus on the experimental procedures required to collect data. Finally,
techniques used to create a modal model of the vibration response of the
structure using the data collected will be presented.