Floor Vibration Serviceability Problems in Wood Light-Frame Buildings

Excessive floor vibrations can occur in wood light-frame buildings and cause inconvenience to occupants in terms of unsatisfactory serviceability. There has been much unresolved debate about how to perform vibration serviceability design calculations for such floors. The research reported in this paper is built around field observations of the vibration behaviors of floors in building superstructure constructed using alternative contemporary wood materials using advanced vibration test and data analysis techniques, and synthesis of findings with existing knowledge. Field investigations were performed on residential units of two multioccupancy multistory buildings having distinctly different architectural and construction features. Those buildings are similar to many in North America. Detailed modal testing was performed with the objective of understanding effects associated with construction method choices made by engineers. Analysis of the data showed that architectural and construction detailing decisions play a major role in determining whether or not a particular building is likely to exhibit floor vibration serviceability problems. Deductions that flow from the new findings and synthesis of those with existing knowledge support the conclusion that empirical and semiempirical methods that engineers can use to make design decisions about floors tend to be unreliable. No attempt is made to specify appropriate engineering design methods but it is believed that what is presented will facilitate development of such methods.