The effects of cutouts in joists on the vibrational response of wood floors

Abstract

This thesis presents the effects of cutouts in joists on the dynamic performance of wood floors. Ten floors and four-floor joist types were used to evaluate the vibrational response of wood floors with and without cutouts in the joists. Each floor was also subjected to different boundary conditions and imposed load during the evaluation. Two types of tests were performed on the floors, a free vibration test and a drop weight test. Data collected from these tests were used to determine several dynamic variables. These variables are the peak displacement, peak acceleration, resonant frequencies, separation of resonant frequencies, root-mean-squared (RMS) acceleration, log-decrement damping ratio, and modal damping ratios. Included in the thesis are the results of a static test (load sharing) performed on the floors with and without cutouts in the joists.