Abstract
It is known that stationary human occupants act as dynamic mass-spring-damper systems and can change modal properties of civil engineering structures. However, there is a lack of information on the properties of such structures occupied by stationary people. The purpose of this study is to extend the limited knowledge available. A full scale measurement is carried out to investigate the influence of stationary people on a slender and lightly footbridge with center span length of 33m. Modal properties (frequency and damping) were estimated from the damped free vibration. Complex eigenvalue calculation is also conducted using two degree of freedom ISO5982:1981 human model. Based on experimental and analytical results, it is revealed that the structural damping of the footbridge increases according to the increase of number of stationary people on the center span of the bridge due to the dynamic interaction.
