A Stability Criterion Model of Flexible Footbridges under Crowd-Induced Vertical Excitation

Abstract

Abstract:The excessive vibration caused by crowds walking across footbridges has attracted great public concerns in the past few decades. This paper presents, from considering the dynamic characteristics of the bipedal crowd model, a new stability limit criterion based on the bipedal excitation model. The stability limit can be used to estimate the upper boundary of crowd size. In addition, the dynamic stable performances of a structure, under a certain walking crowd size, can be predicted by the stability criterion.This proposed mechanism provides an alternative comprehension how crowd excite the excessive sway motion with a large-span structure.