The effect of stiffness and mass on the dynamic response of wood floors

This thesis describes the effects of coefficient of variation (COV) of joist modulus of elasticity (MOE), floor mass and stiffness, imposed load, and boundary conditions on the floor vibrational performance. Three main parameters used to describe the vibration are resonant frequency, damping ratio, and root mean square (RMS) acceleration. The results showed that COV of joist MOE affected the fundamental frequency, and had no significant effect on damping ratio and RMS acceleration. The floor mass and stiffness affected all the three parameters to different degrees. Imposed load affected most of the vibrational parameters. The boundary conditions investigated affect the mode 2 resonant frequency, but have no significant effect on the damping ratio and RMS acceleration. In addition, the load sharing capacity was evaluated in terms of the percentage of load carried by each joist within a floor.