Multimode vibration control of building steel–concrete composite floors submitted to human rhythmic activities

• The modelling of the dynamic behaviour of composite floors was investigated.
• The rhythmic crowd loading models were developed based on experimental tests.
• The random nature of the human rhythmic activities was investigated.
• Human rhythmic activities could induce disturbing vibrations in composite floors.
• Use of multiple tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) on a real building composite floor.

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the dynamic behaviour of building steel–concrete composite floors when submitted to human rhythmic activities. The investigated structural model was based on a real building steel–concrete composite floor spanning 40 m by 40 m with a total area of 1600 m2. The structural system represents a typical interior floor of a commercial building for gym purposes, and designed according to the usual ULS and SLS Eurocode provisions. The human comfort evaluation methods used in the analysis indicated that the composite floor presented excessive vibrations. Hence, it was detected that this type of structure can reach high vibration levels that can compromise the user’s comfort. In addition, the use of multiple tuned mass damper systems (TMDs) was simulated to provide a multimode vibration control aiming to improve the human comfort.