Experimental modal analysis of cross-laminated timber floors

Abstract

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) floors have gained in popularity due to their outstanding strength, aesthetic appeal, good fire resistance, and high level of prefabrication. However, due to their high stiffness-to-weight ratio, CLT floors are highly susceptible to pedestrian-induced vibrations. In design practice, vibration serviceability is usually assessed by assuming a floor as a set of CLT panels with no inter-panel connections, which leads to overestimation of the vibration response. In this paper, an experimental dynamic testing was carried out to identify modal properties and pedestrian-induced response of two CLT floors with different number of panels in a floor assembly. Influence of the inter-panel connections on the floor modal properties and pedestrian-induced vibration response is particularly studied and discussed.