< Back to previous page

Project

Design methodology for contemporary footbridges including human-structure effects

A large number of footbridges is built and planned as part of green and user‐friendly networks for pedestrians and cyclists. These footbridges are often given aesthetically appealing designs and made very slender, which makes them very susceptible to the dynamic excitation by crossing pedestrians. This sensitivity to vibrations is further enhanced by the recent trend of using composite materials in bridge design, which allows for even more slender designs. The state of the art shows that human‐structure interaction (HSI) has an important influence on the response of footbridges crossed by a large crowd of pedestrians. HSI has a tendency to lower the natural frequencies of the structure, because of the added mass of the pedestrians, and to increase the damping of the system consisting of the bridge and the pedestrians, as energy is transferred from the structure to the pedestrians. These effects are at present not fully incorporated yet in design guidelines, although they are very important for the design of slender and lightweight structures. Currently, experimental data is limited and not covering the full range of sensitive natural frequencies (0.2-3.0 Hz) and very high crowd-to-structure mass ratios (50%-75%), as expected for ultra-lightweight footbridges (for example, Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP) footbridges whose number is increasing rapidly). This doctoral research will fill these gaps by collecting benchmark data and develop a design methodology for contemporary footbridges including human-structure effects.

Date:23 Sep 2022 →  Today
Keywords:footbridges, human-induced vibrations
Disciplines:Construction mechanics
Project type:PhD project