ABSTRACT
To account for the human-structure interaction during walking on flexible structures, a pedestrian is typically represented by an equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) system moving over the structure at a constant speed together with an external force. The latter corresponds to the force exerted by a pedestrian when walking on a rigid structure while the SDOF system is responsible for modifying the force at the contact point in order to account for the human-structure-interaction (HSI). This contribution presents a novel method for experimental identification of the SDOF parameters (stiffness and damping), which is based on a combined analysis of biomechanical and structural measurements. All the investigations were performed on an experimental pedestrian bridge, which was instrumented with biomechanical force plates, a 3D motion capture system as well as several sensors for the acquisition of the structural responses. Since both structural and biomechanical responses were recorded simultaneously, an accurate comparison between the measurements and the results of the structural analysis is allowed.
