Floor Vibration Design Criterion For Cold-Formed C-Shaped Supported Residential Floor Systems

Annoying floor vibration due to normal human activity was investigated for cold-formed C-shaped residential floors systems. Dynamic impact and static loading tests were performed on twelve full size laboratory floors and five two-joist line laboratory floors to determine the influencing characteristics of annoying vibrations in metal framed floors. Similar tests were conducted on eleven floors located in existing houses. Subjective evaluation, in terms of annoying vibration levels, of all floors was recorded. Four existing floor vibration criteria were investigated: 1) Australian Standard. Domestic Metal Framing Code, 2) Swedish Building Technology Design Guide developed by Professor Sven Ohlsson, 3) United States Proposed Timber Floor Vibration Criterion developed by James Johnson, and 4) Canadian Timber Floor Criterion developed by Donald Onysko. Data collected from testing was used to determine which of the four existing criteria best classified the perceived vibration level of the floors. One criterion is suggested as the most suitable for predicting the perceived vibration level of metal framed residential floors.

Three methods to predict the vertical deflection of a floor subject to a concentrated load at mid-bay were examined. The results of applying these methods to the laboratory floors were compared to the actual measured values. The method which correlated the best with the measured values was selected for use in the proposed criterion.