Residential Floor Failures from Dynamic Occupant Loading
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 35, Issue 4
Abstract
Dynamic occupant action amplifies demands on structures compared to static loads and is often neglected in design. This paper focuses on 15 light-frame floor collapses caused by dynamic amplification of occupant loads, specifically rhythmic movements of jumping, dancing, and bouncing. This study investigates the increase in floor collapse cases due to occupant loadings near college campuses, their implications, and makes recommendations to reduce future collapse risk. Of the 15 cases studied herein, most failures occurred in multifamily structures within 1.6 km (1 mi) of a university in the East United States. All were determined by investigators and local building or city officials to be a result of dynamic occupancy overloads. Nine of the 15 (60%) overloaded floors were framed using metal-plate connected wood trusses. It is recommended that engineers elect to design multifamily structures in close proximity to universities above code live load minimums to counteract probable dynamic overload from gatherings.
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Data Availability Statement
Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 35 • Issue 4 • August 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 15, 2020
Accepted: Dec 11, 2020
Published online: Apr 16, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 16, 2021
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