Frequency Dependence of Human Response to Wind-Induced Building Motion

Abstract

There has long been debate about the necessity of considering motion frequency in the assessment of occupant comfort during wind-induced tall building motion. This paper characterizes the biodynamic human body vibration response occurring during exposures to low-frequency, constant amplitude acceleration sinusoidal motion and demonstrates a physiological frequency dependence of this motion. The findings from a series of motion simulator experiments show that, as the frequency of oscillation increases from 0.15 to 1.00 Hz, acceleration measured at the head of a human test subject is increasingly magnified. This motion magnification demonstrates that biodynamic human body vibration is frequency dependent in this frequency range. Furthermore there may also be further implications for visual perception of motion through parallax shift. Clearly, these effects need to be accounted for in developing more refined occupant comfort acceptable criteria for tall building motion.