Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Recent trends indicate that the Canadian construction industry is experiencing significant growth in green construction projects. Wood is an attractive green building material since it uses less energy, sequesters carbon and emits fewer green house gases than traditional building materials. Research and advances in wood products have demonstrated that wood structures are able to perform well beyond traditional limitations. The National Building Code of Canada is being revised to recognize the suitability of wood construction for a wider range of structures. Modern structures are often taller and highly efficient, with lightweight floors that can span large unsupported distances. The combination of the lightweight and large spans renders floors more susceptible to vibrations caused by human footfalls. Taller wood buildings are also susceptible to wind-induced vibrations. Excessive floor vibrations can cause discomfort for occupants or interfere with the performance of vibration-sensitive equipment. Pedestrians are often the governing source of vibrations in structures. In the case of vibration-sensitive equipment, the level of vibration that can cause reduced performance is often far below what can be perceived by humans. Therefore, vibration issues may be occurring even if they are not perceived. *** Consideration of vibrations due to footfalls is an important step in the structural design process. Designers rely on guidelines to ensure that these vibrations remain at an acceptable level depending on the intended use. Currently, comprehensive guidelines are available for steel and concrete structures, but a similar guideline for wood structures, especially one which recognizes the recent advances in wood construction, is not available. Considering the current trends in wood construction in Canada, a vibration guideline for wood structures is urgently needed to prevent vibration issues through economical means. *** A vibration monitoring system composed of thirteen wireless triaxial accelerometers is requested to measure vibrations in wood structures. Vibration guidelines for human-induced loads in wood structures will be developed by conducting vibration measurements in wood structures. The results will be used to evaluate and develop advanced prediction and modelling techniques. This research will improve the utility of wood structures by preventing annoying or disruptive vibrations from occurring. It will encourage the use of wood, an important green building material, by mitigating a potential design barrier. The requested equipment is highly versatile and appropriate for many applications in structural dynamics beyond what is described here. Other potential uses include conducting research on wind-induced vibrations, vehicle-induced vibrations, bridge stay cables, earthquake engineering, structural health monitoring, etc. **