Comparing vibration serviceability assessment measures for stadium rock concert data

Today's stadium facilities are more frequently subjected to a crowd induced rhythmic loading when they host rock or pop concerts. The motion generated by such rhythmic loading has the potential to be disturbing or even alarming to the occupants of the stand and this vibration serviceability limit state needs to be considered. Design procedures for such serviceability limit states are often developed from experimental test data. Currently, numerous processing techniques are available for evaluating the vibration response of the structure. For example, ISO-2631 specifies a weighting procedure to be used with one of three assessment schemes: RMS, VDV and MTVV while BS6841 specifies a different weighting procedure and recommends the use of vibration dose values to assess vibration levels. Other measurement evaluations involving absorbed power and DRI weighting have also been employed. An investigation into several evaluation techniques and how each is affected by certain vibrational characteristics is discussed. Experimental results from a rock concert at Manchester Stadium are used to illustrate the use of these different measures and to compare their results.