A contribution to the modelling of human induced excitation on pedestrian bridges

Human induced vibration is a common problem in the design of planking levels as both flooring or decking. The source of the vibration is the so-called “human induced loading (HIL)”. Models are available for a single exciting person and for a dense aggregation of persons. Small groups of persons should also be considered in view of serviceability limit state design. This paper introduces a model for the time variant stochastic fields of forces induced by the walking of a small group of persons. A numerical example is presented dealing with the evaluation of vertical and transversal accelerations at nodes of a finite element model of an existing wood footbridge. The example considers different idealizations of the human induced excitation and the results of these models are compared to actual records.