Low-Frequency Behaviour of Civil Engineering Structures—Application to Human-Induced Excitations

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of this Special Issue focuses on recent developments in the low-frequency responses of civil engineering structures to human-induced excitation. In recent decades, the use of high-strength materials has enabled the design and construction of longer spans and taller buildings, resulting in slender structures that are generally more susceptible to the low-frequency content of human-induced excitation. For example, a person walking across a room exerts a force at a frequency of about 1.8 Hz in the vertical vibration and the frequency of walking loads in the lateral direction is only half of that in the vertical direction [1].

Human activities such as walking, running, jumping, dancing, aerobics, etc., cause these unwanted vibrations in civil structures where people are both the source and the receiver [2]. The available knowledge about vibrations in floors used for events with groups and crowds of active people is still very scarce and limited, as it has mainly focused on stadium stands. However, an increasing number of problems have been reported regarding the serviceability of vibrating floors in concert halls, nightclubs, shopping centres, sports halls, etc. [3], of different sizes and for all types of buildings with regular or irregular architectural configurations. In addition, the behaviour of these slender structures is often non-linear and usually poorly damped.

The aim of this Special Issue is to discuss the latest achievements in the field of data processing procedures and low-frequency response data processing techniques for man-made vibrations on civil engineering structures, and multidisciplinary contributions are particularly encouraged. Potential topics for submissions include but are not limited to the following:

• Human-induced loading and dynamic response of infrastructures;
• Crowd–structure interaction;
• Human-induced vibrations and footbridge dynamics;
• Traffic-induced vibrations and bridge dynamics;
• Fatigue resistance and vibration of floors for event use in entertainment venues induced by groups and crowds of active people;
• Advances in dynamic experimental techniques in the case of responses to human induced excitations;
• Advances in computational dynamics of civil engineering structures in the case of responses to human induced excitations. 

[1] Shahabpoor, E. Pavic, A., Racic, V. (2016) Interaction between Walking Humans and Structures in Vertical Direction: A Literature Review, Shock and Vibration, 3430285, 22 pages. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3430285

[2] Avci O. and Catbas FN. (2022) Editorial: Human-Induced Excitations and Vibrations Serviceability of Civil Engineering Structures. Front. Built Environ. 8:846351. doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2022.846351

[3] Wang, H., Ge, Q., Zeng, D., Zhang, Z.., Chen, J. (2023) Human-induced vibration serviceability: from dynamic load measurement towards the performance-based structural design, Buildings, 13, 1977, https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13081977

Dr. Pierre Argoul
Guest Editor

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• vibrations of civil engineering structures in the low frequency range
• human induced vibrations
• crowd–structure interaction
• floor vibrations serviceability
• foot-bridge vibrations
• traffic-induced vibrations of bridges