Vibration behaviour of statically determinate arches, under pedestrian loading and using morphological indicators

Abstract

Within the framework of sustainable development we strive for constructions with a minimum volume of material. Only considering criteria on resistance and buckling, at the stage of conceptual design a clear hierarchy among the different structural topologies can be established with Morphological Indicators (MI). Up to now, dynamic effects were not considered when designing constructions with MI. However, an optimum obtained by minimising the volume only considering strength, often results in solutions with problematic dynamic behaviour. To avoid these problems the stiffness, mass and/or damping characteristics must be modified, implying a volume increase, additional apparatus and as a consequence a cost rise. With an optimisation process that considers/predicts dynamic behaviour at the stage of conceptual design, an optimum can be obtained without the necessity to alter the (strength-optimised) construction drastically afterwards. This paper focuses on the prediction of the eigenfrequencies and peak accelerations of statically determined arches (3 hinges) under pedestrian excitation within the theory of morphological indicators. Hence, it provides a user friendly tool during the first steps of the design process for the architect/structural designer.