VERIFICATION EXAMPLE 1

- Footbridge Footfall Analysis

REFERENCE:
Example taken from A Design Guide for Footfall Induced Vibration of Structures, !"!#ilford, $!%oung,
&'e (oncrete Society )**+, page ,)!
SPECIFICATION:
In t'is problem -ill be analysed a concrete footbridge, 'a.ing constant cross/section and t-o
continuous e0ual spans of )* m, as s'o-n in t'e figure belo-!
Assumed cross/section properties1 area Ax2*!33 m
)
second moment of inertia Iy2*!*4+m
,
mass per unit lengt' m256,6kg7m
aterial1 E2 86 G$a, density 2 ),** kg7m8
RSA Calculation Model
&'e )/D beam members, eac' di.ided into 6 finite elements!
$inned supports!
SOLUTION:
Definition of t'e Footfall Analysis case in "SA )*5*!
Generally t'ere are t-o excitation met'ods1
/ Self excitation analy9es t'e response in t'e same node to -'ic' t'e force is applied,
/ Full excitation analy9es t'e response in any node, to t'e effect of t'e force applied to anot'er
node!
All t'e parameters are set by default for
(oncrete (enter excitation force
met'od1
/ #alking fre0uency range from 5 to
)!6 :9!
/ Number of footsteps a parameter
t'at is important only for t'e
resonant response ;'armonic<
analysis= a lo-er number of
footsteps reduces a possibility of
resonance
/ Walkers weight / a parameter t'at
is important only for t'e resonant
response ;'armonic< analysis= for
t'e transient analysis, t'e excitation
force is an impulse from t'e force of
3,+ >
Damping is assumed as 5!4? of critical,
so define *!*54 as constant damping for
all modes!
$ress Modal analysis parameters button in t'e main
definition dialog -indo-!
Footfall analysis sol.es modal eigen.alue problem
first and t'is dialog box is for settings t'e modal
analysis parameters!
&'e number of calculated eigenmodes is limited to
t'e fre0uency limit defined for FootFall analysis!
For t'is example c'ange t'e Fre0uency limit to )*
:9, in order to obtain t'e first t'ree modes!
@y default, t'e acti.e mass direction is A only, for .ertical .ibrations!
Bike for normal odal analysis case, t'e Footfall analysis case can ignore t'e self/mass of t'e model
elements, -'en Ignore density is c'ecked! Cser can also con.ert any static load case to masses!
Footfall analysis generates lumped -it' rotation mass matrix and is sol.ed -it' subspace iteration
algorit'm!
(lose t'e -indo-s by pressing O buttons!
"un calculations!
A. Modal anal!i! " natu#al $#e%uencie!
Dpen results table from menu !esults"#d$anced"Modal analysis!
ode &'eoretical ;:9< "SA )*5* ;:9<
f5 ,,)) ,,)5)
f) +,4E +,43E
f8 5+,E* 5+,65,
Good agreement of results!
&'e response factor for Footfall analysis is calculated using ) different types of analysis1
resonant response, -'ic' occurs for lo- fre0uency structures t'e -alking excitation can induce
'armonic resonant -it' t'e structure natural modes of .ibration!
transient response , -'ic' occurs for 'ig' fre0uency structures 'armonic resonant cannot occur,
so t'e footfall response is induced by a single dynamic impulse -it' t'e maximum fre0uency from
t'e -alking fre0uency range!
&'e criterion of selecting an analysis type is t'e first, basic fre0uency of structure natural .ibrations
and t'e maximum footfall fre0uency! It is assumed t'at t'e resonant response can be induced up to
fourt' multiplication of t'e -alking fre0uency! #'en t'e usual maximum -alking fre0uency is about
)!4 :9, t'en t'e limit for resonance possibility is about 5* :9 of t'e basic natural fre0uency!
As t'e sample structure basic natural mode is ,!)5 :9, t'en it is ob.ious t'at t'e resonant response
-ill 'a.e stronger influence t'an t'e transient response!
&. Foot$all anal!i!
"esults of t'e analysis include only results in nodes! Dne of t'e most important results of t'e
analysis is a "esponse factor ;"f< -'ic' specifies 'o- many times calculated .ibrations exceed t'e
.ibration perceptible to a 'uman!
Dpen results table from menu !esults"#d$anced"Footfall analysis% tables!
&'e table s'o-s for eac' node t'e maximum "esponse factor in t'e fre0uency domain! &'ere are
al-ays calculated response factors for resonant and transient algorit'm! "f/o.erall is t'e greater
.alue from t'e resonant and transient response factors! Fre0uency column s'o-s for -'ic' fre0uency
t'e o.erall response factor is obtained!
#e can see t'at t'e maximum "esponse factor is obtained for nodes 3 and 5,, -'ic' are actually in
t'e middle of t'e spans!
&'e maximum "esponse factor is obtained for -alking fre0uency e0ual ),55 :9! ore exactly it is
),5*+ :9 -'ic' second 'armonics ;multiplication< gi.es t'e natural fre0uency ,!)5)! :9 of t'e second
mode!
&'e simple c'eck according to t'e reference guide, for -alking at )!5*+ :9 ;second 'armonic<, gi.es1
Dynamic force F' 2 +6+ F>G H ;*!*+EI*!**4+H)H)!5*+< 2 +8!4 > ;refer table ,!8<
"esonant acceleration for mode ) of modal mass 888)) kg, at node 3 -it' normali9ed eigen.ector
*,E3 .alue, is gi.en by1
a 2 +8!4H*!E3H*!E3 7 ;)H*!*54H888))< 2 *!*4E6 m7s) ;see ,!5<
"esponse factor
"f 2 *!*4E6 7 *!**35 2 6,,) ;see ,!3<
&'is gi.es good agreement -it' exact FE solution!
For furt'er analysis -e can examine detailed diagrams of Footfall analysis results! Open dialog
box from menu Results\Advanced\Footfall analysis- diagram.
Footfall analysis diagrams display .alues of
different results in -alking fre0uency domain!
&'is is particularly interested for resonant
analysis results!
For &ransient analysis diagrams t'e maximum
.alues -ill be al-ays obtained for t'e end of
-alking fre0uency range!
Interesting can be diagram of Velocity in &ime
domain after impulse load!
BetJs examine diagram of "esonant response
factor in Fre0uency domain for node 3 excited
-it' t'e load at node 3!
&'e diagrams can be plotted for any selection of
resultant and excitation nodes, e.en if t'e
analysis -as performed -it' self/excitation
met'od! &'e plots are calculated on/line!
&'e diagram s'o-s t'e response factor due to eac' 'armonics and t'e total, D.erall "esponse factor!
It is s'o-n t'at t'e maximum response factor is obtained at -alking fre0uency )!55 :9, mainly by t'e
second 'armonics!
@S 4,** pro.ides guidance on t'e acceptable le.els for footbridges! For external bridges t'e
response factor s'ould be "K+, for single person excitation at most critical footfall rate! &'us t'e
footbridge .ibration are satisfactory according to t'e code!