Footfall model for design of high frequency floors

Dynamic loading due to people walking is one of the most relevant dynamic excitations for design of floors housing vibration sensitive facilities. Such floors are commonly designed as "high frequency floors" showing a transient response due to successive footfalls. According to the contemporary UK design guideline, their fundamental frequency should be higher than 10 Hz to avoid the resonance. Contrary to the popular belief, this study shows that the resonance can still develop when the natural frequency is in the range 10-20 Hz. Motivated by the existing model of footfall forces featuring the current UK Concrete Society guideline for design of floors, a new mathematical model has been developed to evaluate more reliably vibration serviceability of high frequency floors