Human induced loading of flexible staircases

Experimental assessment of vibration serviceability of stair systems

“…Accordingly, it is recommended for assessment of vibration serviceability of stairs to use the criterion for indoor footbridges as the most closely related to stairs. And, Bishop et al [2] suggested the vibration serviceability criteria on one pedestrian walking load based on the measurements on four steel staircases in existing buildings. Their suggested criteria modified the base perception curve for vertical vibration in the BS6472 [9] by multiplying the factor R, 32 for light use (offices) and 24 for heavy use (public buildings and stadia).…”

“…The vibration serviceability criteria provided by the American Institute of Steel Construction [1] and Bishop et al [2] were used to evaluate the vibration serviceability of stair systems because the other relevant codes such as ISO 2631-2 [7] and Guidelines for the Evaluation of Habitability to Building Vibration by Architectural Institute of Japan [8] provide criteria only for office and residential buildings while the AISC provides criteria for offices and residential buildings, indoor footbridges, and outdoor footbridges. Since stairs are generally not occupied for long periods of time it is not reasonable to use the criteria for offices and residential buildings [1].…”

“…All of the staircases are located within reinforced concrete shear wall systems assuming that the stair systems are applied to high-rise residential RC buildings that require more critical vibration serviceability than office buildings in general. Measured data were analyzed and compared with serviceability criteria for vibration provided by American Institute of Steel Construction [1] and Bishop's criteria [2].…”

Human induced vibration of staircases: Measurements and analysis

“…This value is divided by a baseline RMS value set out in both the ISO 10137:2007 and BS 6472-1:2008 for a given frequency, which corresponds to the threshold value of human perception of vibration. The resulting response factor can then be compared against the limiting multiplying factors of 24 for heavy use and 32 for light use staircases (Bishop et al (1995)).…”

“…Staircases experience much higher loads than the floors in general and a fast stair decent can normally be assumed with a footfall rate of between 3 and 4 per second and even up to 4.5 footfalls per second (Bishop et al (1995)). Kerr and Bishop (2001) showed that only the first two harmonics of walking activity induced on stairs need to be considered, and proposed the corresponding Fourier coefficients.…”