Experimental determination of crowd load and coherency when jumping on a rigid raked grandstand

A. J. Comer, M. S. Williams, A. Blakeborough

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The problem of human excitation of cantilever grandstands has been highlighted by the UK Standing Committee on Structural Safety necessitating an ongoing revision of UK codes and guidelines concerning the design and assessment of modern grandstands. There is still a lack of information on the loads crowds impose on grandstands with current load models being overly conservative. This paper is concerned with the dynamic load induced by an active crowd both with and without the coordinating effect of external stimuli (e.g. aural) and seeks to highlight the highest degree of coherency that can be achieved by a group of people jumping on a grandstand. To this end, a segment of a full scale rigid raked grandstand has been designed and built to simulate the space constraints found in modern stadia. The load induced by up to 15 test subjects is measured by means of load plates - one per test subject. Jumping and bobbing tests have been performed at specific beat frequencies. The results presented will lead to a more realistic crowd load model which accounts for the lack of synchronization between individuals when jumping in a group.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIMAC-XXV - Celebrating 25 Years of IMAC
Publication statusPublished - 2007
Externally publishedYes
Event25th Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics 2007, IMAC-XXV - Orlando, FL, United States
Duration: 19 Feb 200722 Feb 2007

Publication series

NameConference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series
ISSN (Print)2191-5644
ISSN (Electronic)2191-5652

Conference

Conference25th Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics 2007, IMAC-XXV
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityOrlando, FL
Period19/02/0722/02/07

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