Deck and Porch Floor Lateral Loading by Occupants
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
Two deck floors, with different lateral stiffnesses, were constructed to measure lateral loads generated by occupants that are needed for design of residential or commercial exterior deck-type floors. Load was measured with two load cells attached at each end of the ledger representing the attachment to the building. The decks were supported on rollers, simulating minimal lateral resistance from columns. Occupants performed two different types of dynamic actions, in two orthogonal directions, at occupancy live load levels of 0.48, 0.96, 1.44, and 1.92 kPa (10, 20, 30, and 40 psf). The first loading cyclic was a side-to-side swaying motion that could result from a deliberate synchronized movement such as dancing. The second was an impulse-type load, which simulated horseplay-type activities. The difference in stiffness between the two decks resulted in a significant change in the human–structure interaction. Significant inertial effects were observed when the flexible deck was loaded parallel to the ledger. A design lateral load of 0.57 kPa (12 psf) of plan area was recommended, which conservatively includes inertial forces from a flexible deck.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Donations of construction hardware from Simpson Strong-Tie (Pleasanton, California) are gratefully acknowledged.
References
American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA). (2010). “Prescriptive residential deck construction guide.” DCA 6, Washington, DC.
ASCE. (2010). “Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.” ASCE/SEI 7-10, Reston, VA.
American Wood Council (AWC). (2008). “Special design provisions for wind and seismic.” ANSI/AF&PA SDPWS-2008, Washington, DC
Carradine, D. M., Bender, D. A., Loferski, J. R., and Woeste, F. E. (2008). “Lessons learned: Residential deck ledger connection testing and design.” Structure Magazine, May, 53–56.
Carradine, D. M., Bender, D. A., Woeste, F. E., and Loferski, J. R. (2007). “Development of design capacities for residential deck ledger connections.” Forest Products J., 57(3), 39–45.
Ebrahimpour, A., Sack, R. L., Saul, W. E., and Thinness, G. L. (1986). “Measuring dynamic occupant loads by microcomputer.” Proc., 9th Conf. on Electronic Computation, K. M. Will, ed., ASCE, Reston, VA, 328–338.
Homan, S. W., et al. (1932). “Horizontal forces produced by movements of the occupants of a grandstand.” Am. Standards Assoc. Bull., 3(4), 123–126.
International Code Council (ICC). (2009a). International building code, Washington, DC.
International Code Council (ICC). (2009b). International residential code for one- and two-family dwellings, Washington, DC.
Legacy Services. (2010). “;Outdoor deck and porch injury study.” Sarasota, FL.
Littler, J. (2003). “Frequencies of synchronized human loading from jumping and stamping.” J. Inst. Struct. Eng., 81(22), 27–36.
Lyman, G. H., and Bender, D. A. (2013). “Wind load determination for residential decks.” Wood Design Focus, 23(2), 3–8.
Lyman, G. H., Bender, D. A., and Dolan, J. D. (2013). “Seismic load determination for residential decks.” Wood Design Focus, 23(2), 9–14.
Moreland, R. (1905). “The weight of a crowd.” London Engrg., 79, 551.
Parsons, B. J., Bender, D. A., Dolan, J. D., Tichy, R. J., and Woeste, F. E. (2014). “Lateral load path and capacity of exterior decks.” Pract. Period. Struct. Des. Constr., 04014015.
Sachse, R., Pavic, A., and Reynolds, P. (2003). “Human–structure dynamic interaction in civil engineering dynamics: A literature review.” Shock Vibration Digest, 35(1), 3–18.
Shutt, C. A. (2011). “Improving deck safety.” LBM J., May/June, 26–28.
Sim, J., Blakeborough, A., Williams, M. S., and Parkhouse, G. (2008). “Statistical model of crowd jumping loads.” J. Struct. Eng., 1852–1861.
Tuan, C. Y., and Saul, W. E. (1985). “Loads due to spectator movements.” J. Struct. Eng., 418–434.
Yao, S., Wright, J., Yu, C.-H., Pavic, A., and Reynolds, P. (2005). “Human-induced swaying forces on flexible structures.” Proc., ICE—Structures and Buildings, 158(2), 109–117.
Yao, S., Wright, J., Yu, C.-H., Pavic, A., Reynolds, P., and Sachse, R. (2003). “The effect of people jumping on a flexible surface.” Proc., IMAC XXIV, Society for Experimental Mechanics, Bethel, CT.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 19 • Issue 3 • August 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 30, 2013
Accepted: Sep 24, 2013
Published online: Feb 26, 2014
Discussion open until: Jul 26, 2014
Published in print: Aug 1, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.