NOTES

Dynamic testing of an open web steel joist floor

M . Y. T . CHANAND M . S . CHEUNG
PllOlic Works Canndcr, Ormrvn, O I I ~ .Cnrznda
, K I A OM2
Received June 27, 1980
Revised manuscript accepted February 1 1 , 198 1
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A non-composite open web steel joist warehouse floor was tested to determine its dynamic characteristics and maximum
strain levels under actual operational conditions. Altogether 28 tests were carried out. The strain and acceleration information
for each test was recorded on strip chart and magnetic tape recorders. The recorded data were examined and analyzed through
a dual channel spectrum analyzer and the results were compared with calculated values. Good agreements are noted.

On a soumis un plancher d'entrep6t, port6 sans goujonnage par des poutrelles d'acier en treillis, a des essais destines a faire
connaitre ses paramttres dynamiques et ses deformations maximales en service normal. Au total, on a effectue 28 essais. Les
deformations et les accClCrations ont fait I'objet d ' u n enregistrement double, par voie graphique et sur ruban magndtique, au
cours de chaque essai. Ces enregistrements ont etC itudies au moyen d'un analyseur spectral i deux canaux. On a note une
bonne concordance entre les relev6s expkrimentaux et les risultats dcs calculs.
[Traduit par la revue]
Can. I. Civ. Eng.. 8. 257-262 (1981)
For personal use only.

Introduction points. The concrete deck has a thickness of 76 mm and

B~~~~~~~ (heir higher flexibilityand lower dalnping is reinforced with a wire mesh. Because the original
values, long span floorsof lighter constrLlctioncan shop drawings were not available, the exact size and
i n problems of objectionable floor make of the joists cannot be accurately ascertained. Site
vibration ( L 1966:~ ~1974; ~ ~ ~~i~~~~
and nleas~~ren~ent of the joists gave an approximate moment
1976).~ ~of this ~type ofconstrLlction
i ~ ~ openl web of inertia of 9. I6 x lo7 111111~i~nda cross sectional area
are
steel joist floors, of course, objectionable floorv i b r a of 1610 mm'. The floor was designed for a live load of
(ions can result of hulnan activities for 7.18 kPa and a dead load of 2.49 kPa. The floor has a
which the *lOors were not really designed, (his case, bare concrete finish with ceiling panels attached to its
the dynanlic nature of the applied loads may also over- underside. Cracks in the concrete floor were quite sig-
stress (he joists and tilreaten the safety of the floor, nificant and visible. I t is understood that thc cracks
hi^ note describes the llleasurelllent for were caused by a heavy forklift (net vehicle weight
detel-llliningdynamiccharacteristics and strain levels of about 17.8 kN) ;I few years ago. B e c a ~ ~ of s e the severe
open web steel joist floors, ~ ~i t investigates ~ cracks, ~and to a certain
h extent,~ the ~~ndesirable
~ floor ~
the possibility and reliability of extracting infor. vibrations, the use of the heavy forklift has since been
nlation from acceleration signals. This techniq~~e is very prohibited.
useful, as the installation of strain gages (used primarily
for stress measurements) is gene~xllyvery time con- Description of the test
suming and the steel joists can at times be inaccessible. A bay of the warehouse was cleared for the testing
This note is a brief summary of the test, the data program. A light forklift (net vehicle weight about
collection and analysis methods, and some comparisons 5.3 kN) and a heavy forklift (net vehicle weight about
between calculated and observed results. 17.8 kN) were used to excite the floors. The heavy
forklift was not loaded while the light forklift carried a
Description of the floor load of about 3.1 kN. The tests involved a single fork-
The floor chosen for this study is a non-composite lift travelling the floor either in circles or in a set direc-
open web steel joist warehouse floor. A typical bay of tion (parallel or perpendicular to the joists). Someof the
the floor measures 9.15 x 9.15 rn. The 610 mni deep tests required the operator to make abrupt stops during
joists spanning the 9.15 m bays are spaced at 610 nlm the run. Impact tests were performed by dropping the
centre to centre. The joists are supported on WWF 3.1 kN load off the light forklift at a height of approxi-
686 x 147 girders and tie joists are located between the mately 76 mm. A summary of the various test cases
bays. Bridgings are provided at the quarter and nlid considered is shown in Table 1.

03 15-146818 11020257-06$01.0010
0198 1 National Research Council of CanadaIConseil national de recherches du Canada
 CAN. J . CIV. ENG. VOL. 8. 1981

TABLE1. Warehouse floor vibration tests
Type of test
Impact parallel to joists
Impact perpendicular to joists
Roving parallel to joists
Roving perpendicular to joists
Roving in circles
Roving parallel to joists and braking
Roving perpendicular to joists
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ture compensating gage. Each gage was equipped with
an individual amplifier placed in the immediate vicinity
Test number" of the gage. The gages were installed in the usual
manner, the surface being prepared by grinding and
1, 2, 3
buffing, followed by degreasing prior to gage bonding.
4, 5
6, 7, 22 The accelerometers used were Columbia Instrument's
10, 11, 18, 19 servo SA 107 FDC accelerometers. These accelero-
14, 15, 25, 26 meters have a sensitivity of 5 V/g and a rated noise floor
8, 9, 23, 24 of 0.1 mV rms in the frequency range of dc- 100 Hz.
The accelerometer output was connected to a transduc-

and braking 12, 13, 20, 21 tion filter - amplifier unit; this provides high and low
Roving in circles and braking 16, 17, 27 pass filters with settings of 0.5, 1, and 10 Hz and 1, 10,
Static measurement of strains due 20, and 50 Hz respectively, as well as gains of 1, 10,
to storage materials 28 and 100. Floor mounts in the form of steel angles, each
*Light forklift used for tests nos. 1-17; heavy forklift used for weighing about 13.3 N were used to secure the accel-
tests nos. 18-27. erometers to the floor.
A Racal Thermionic Store 7D FM tape recorder and
610 mm S.S. OWSJ a Honeywell visicorder were employed in the data
\
acquisition. The strain data were simultaneously
recorded on the visicorder and the tape recorder. The
acceleration signals were recorded on the tape recorder
and also displayed as dynamic displacements on the
visicorder. This was achieved by connecting the accel-
erometer output simultaneously to a multichannel
For personal use only.

double integrator.

U
U
WWF 686 mmX147 kg
A Accelerometers 0 Strain Gages
FIG. I. Instrumentation layout for floor vibration test.
Strain gages are attached to bottom cord of the simply sup-
ported open web steel joist (S.S. OWSJ).
Instrumentation
The accelerations of the floor were measured with
accelerometers, while strain gages were used to monitor
the strains in the joists. The 4 accelerometers and 3
strain gages used in the testing program were laid out as
shown in Fig. 1. The strain gages employed were
Micro-Measurements CEA-06-250UW-350 foil gages.
They have a 350 51 resistance and a rated gage factor of
2.125 * 5%. The gages were connected in a standard
114 bridge configuration, without an external tempera-
Data analysis
The data recorded on the magnetic tape were played
back through a Nicolet Scientific Inc. model 660A dual
channel spectrum analyzer of the FFT type. For results
that required plotting, the data were transferred to a data
recorder adaptor which has dual mini floppy disk
drives, and is connected to a HP digital pen plotter.
(tr) St/-trill dtrtn
Both the strains and the dynamic displacements can
be read off the visicorder traces by using the appropriate
scale factor. With the exception of the test cases involv-
ing impact loadings and sudden stopping of the fork-
lifts, the majority of the strain data were essentially
static. Some of the critical cases for strain gage no. 2
were digitized through the analyzer and the results were
plotted for presentation in this note.
The results of test no. 4 are shown in Fig. 2, where
the maximum static or crawl strain is seen to be 160 p c .
The impact strain history is shown in Fig. 3 , where an
expanded time scale has been used. The maximum
dynamic strain as measured from Fig. 3 has a peak to
peak value of 928 W E , thus the maximum strain expe-
rienced during this test was 544 p c or 108.8 MPa
(assuming E , = 200 GPa).
The results of test no. 21 are shown in Fig. 4. The
maximum crawl strain in this case is about 135 p c . The
strain history of the second braking action is shown in
Fig. 5 using a larger time scale. The maximum dynamic
 NOTES 259
400

320 --
240 --
160
--

80 --
+
b 0--
2 -80 -r , - -
-160
--
-240 -'
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-320 --

-400
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
T ~ m e( s ) Time ( s )

FIG.2. Strain history, test no. 4, gage no. 2. FIG.5. Strain history, test no. 21, gage no. 2.
For personal use only.

-0.60 I
0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
Time ( s l Time ( s )

FIG. 3. Strain history, test no. 4, gage no. 2. FIG. 6. Acceleration history, test no. 4, accelerometer
no. 1.

The impact or dynamic amplification factor (ex-

pressed as a ratio of the total strain vs. the crawl strain)
in the 2 cases shown are exceptionally high (200 and
340%). The solnewhat lower crawl strain observed in
test no. 21 is due to the heavy forklift's larger axle and
wheel spacings, and also to its position relative to strain
gage no. 2 at the moment of braking. From the results
shown, it is obvious that impact loading and sudden
braking of the forklift can produce strains that are more
I than 3 times those due to identical loads but applied
-320

-400
5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0
t
40.0
statically.
(O) Accelerrrtion clrttrr
Time ( s )
The acceleration data recorded on the magnetic tape
FIG.4. Strain history, test no. 21, gage no. 2. were digitized and examined through the NSI 600A
analyzer. The results were found to have essentially the
strain measures 260 pc peak to peak, thus the maxi- same trend as the strain data, i.e., significant levels of
mum strain experienced was 265 pc or 53 MPa. acceleration were observed only when impact or sudden
Static strains due to the normal floor load were also stopping of the forklift occurred. Plots of the accelera-
recorded at the end of the dynamic tests. These values tion histories of 2 such test cases are shown in Figs. 6
were 131, 160, and 150 pc, respectively, for strain and 7. Figure 6 shows that the peak acceleration of test
gages nos. 1, 2 , and 3. no. 4 as measured by accelerometer no. 1 was 0.56s.
 CAN. J. CIV. ENGI. VOL. 8, 1981

0 320 1 I
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0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

Time (5)

FIG. 7 . Acceleration history, test no. 27, accelerometer FIG. 9. 6 Hz decay curve, test no. 4, accelerometer no. 1.

Acc.1.rOmel.r No. 1

tfi +
For personal use only.

Acceleromlfer No. 2

-0.32

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

-0.40
0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 125 1.50 1.75
1
2.00
Frequency (Hz) Time (5)

FIG. 8. Fourier spectra of impact vibration, test no. 4, FIG. 10. 11 Hz decay curve, test no. 4, accelerometer
accelerometers nos. 1 and 2 . no. 1.

From Fig. 7 , it can be seen that the peak acceleration
experienced by acceleronieter no. 2 during test no. 27
was 0.16g.
(c) Freq~ietzcies
The recorded acceleration signals were examined for
their frequency contents by using the FFT function of
the analyzer. The FFT procedure yields a conlplex
function in the frequency domain, from which the
natural frequencies of the structure can generally be
identified by the various peaks of the Fourier ampli-
tudes. F i g ~ ~ 8r eshows the Fourier spectra for test no. 4
obtained from accelerometers no. 1 and 2. Because the
time domain signal was an imp~llseof a very short
duration, the spectra are broad band and have very few
distinct peaks. To identify the natural frequencies from
Fig. 8, it was necessary to digitize each spectrum and
feed the results into a minicomputer. The average
amplitude of the spectrum was computed and used as a
threshold. The 5 largest amplitudes in the spectrum that
exceeded the threshold were selected. Using this
approach, the natural frequencies corresponding to the
first and second mode of floor vibration were found to
be 5.6 and 10.8 Hz, respectively. The high frequencies
shown in the plot are generally of no interest as far as
structural vibration is concerned, because they are
usually very highly damped. To obtain additional and
more accurate frequency information, other means of
excitation (such as frequency sweeps with a shaker)
should be employed.
(11) D ~ ~ r t l p i t lIg. C I ~ ~ O S
The modal damping ratios are generally determined
using the half power (or bandwidth) method (Clough
and Penzien 1975). But because the frequencies are
closely spaced and the peaks are not distinct, the damp-
ing ratios were determined by examining the decay
curves. This involved displaying the acceleration
signals after filtering them through a narrow bandpass
filter set at the desired frequencies. The bandpass
frequencies were set at approximately 6 and 1 1 Hz for
the first and second mode, respectively. The results of
accelerometer no. 1 are shown in Figs. 9 and 10 for test
no. 4. The damping ratios can be determined from the
 NOTES 26 1
STATIC CALCULATION finite element mesh ~ ~ s wase d a 15 X 15 grid. Because
of the severe cracks in the concrete floor, the stiffness
of the plate elements was reduced by using a modulus
of elasticity equal to a half of the estimated value of
19.8 GPa. The moment of inertia and Young's modulus
of the joists and supporting girders were not reduced.
The static moment and deflection calculated at midspan
I - of the middle joist for test no. 4 were 8.3 kN.m and
Moment
Stress
8.157 X 10'mrn4
-
- -
4.2 X 2.87
MyA 11.2
- 11.2 kN.rn
X 0 . 3 0 4 8 / 19.157 X l o - ' ) - 3 7 . 3 3 MPU
4.29 mm, respectively. The first and second mode
natural frequencies were found to be 5.1 and 10.9 Hz,
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respectively. The first mode shape has 1 half sine wave

FREQUENCY CALCULATION in directions parallel and perpendicular to the joists.
0.6 The second mode shape has I half wave in the direction
1. mode nuturd frequency for S.S. b e a n 18 0 - &[El of the joists and 2 half waves in the direction perpen-
O Hz 2~ m dicular to the joists. These results are in reasonably
Where
L
U
-- -span
is the natural frequency In
9.15 rn
- 16' - good agreement with the experimental values.
rn - flexural rigidity
rnws/unit length -
2.0 X 10' X 8.157 X
2.49 X 0.81/ 9.808
The frequency calculated with the d o v e values is 8.45
-
18300 k~.rn'
0.155 kN.seoL/ mE
Hz.
Due to its severe cracks, the concrete floor
contributes very little to the flexural stiffness and is
virtually ineffective in the lateral distribution of loads.
FIG. 1 1. Beam theory calculations. Consequently, even simple beam calculations, such as
those shown in Fig. 11, will yield reasonably accurate
results.
To determine the maximum stress from the integrated
acceleration signals, it is necessary to know the crawl or
For personal use only.

Static
Deflection
Dynmic
Deflection
Static deflection a mid-span beaed on simple beam calculation b 4.597 rnm
Dynamic deflection a mid-.pan from integrator is 22.86 rnm pk. to pk.
Total displwernsnt a mid-spm is 4.597 + 11.43 16.027 rnm-
Assume di~placement curve is Y -
16.027 sin X/9.15)
Moment - -El$ - 18314 X X 0.016 - 34.6 kN.m
dX 9.15
Stress - My/l - 34.60 X 0.3048/(9.157 X 10'1 - 115 MPa
FIG. 12. Calculation of stress from acceleration data.
decay curves by calculating the log decrement. Using
this approach, the first and second mode damping ratios
were estimated to be 6 and 12%, respectively.
The following factors probably contributed to the
rather high damping ratios of the floor: (1) the cracks in
the concrete floor: (2) the noncomposite construction of
the floor; (3) the mass of the ceiling panels; and (4) the
mass of the storage materials in the adjacent bays.
Theoretical calculations
A static analysis of test no. 4 and a free vibration
analysis were carried out using the STARDYNE (Con-
trol Data Corporation 1979) finite element package. In
the analyses the floor was treated as a stiffened plate
resting on 4 edge beams and supported at the comers.
The concrete tloor was idealized by 76 mm thick
quadrilateral plate elements while noncomposite beam
elements were used for the joists and the girders. The
static displacements beforehand, because double inte-
gration of the acceleration will yield only the displace-
ment amplitudes as measured from the static equili-
brium position. The calculation of the maximum stress
for test no. 4 is shown in Fig. 12. The good agreement
obtained is a result of the easily predictable static
deflections of the floor.
Conclusions
From the results presented, the following conclu-
sions may be drawn.
( 1 ) While the combination of high acceleration
levels (0.56s) and the 5-6 Hz fundamental frequency
will have exceeded the annoyance threshold of floor
vibrations, serious objectionable vibrations are not
likely to be a problen~,since the floor is used priinarily
for storage. Furthermore, because of the high damping
value of the tloor, the duration of peak level vibration
will be very short. In the floor vibrations should annoy
certain people, it will not likely be for reasons of
decreased efficiency or discomfort, but due to doubts
about the structure's safety, which in this case seems
justified.
(2) Any sudden application of load is dynamic in
nature and hence could result in stresses that are many
times those due to the same load but applied statically
or gradually.
( 3 ) Dynamic displacen~entscan be obtained by
integrating the accelerations. However, if the frequen-
cies of vibration are lower than a certain cut-off point of
the integrator (0.8 Hz for the one used in this test),
 262 CAN. J. CIV. ENG. VOL. 8, 1981

there will be phase distortion problems and the results ALLEN,D. L. 1974. Vibrational behavior of long span
will be worthless. floor slabs. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering,
(4) Satisfactory stress information could be 1, pp. 108- 115.
extracted from acceleration measurements, provided ALLEN,D. E., and RAINER, J. H. 1976. Vibration criteria for
the staitc displacements can be determined with a long-span floors. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering,
3, pp. 165-173.
reasonable degree of accuracy. This implies a simple
CLOUGH,R. W., and PENZIEN. J. 1975. Dynamic of Struc-
structural geometry and boundary conditions (such as tures. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY,
those of this test floor), and a good knowledge of the p. 634.
mechanical properties of the structural members (i.e., CONTROL DATACORPORATION. 1979. Stardyne user's guide.
moment of inertia, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio,
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 195.229.236.218 on 04/19/11

Minneapolis. MN.
etc). Generally speaking, displacement transducers LENZEN,K . H . 1966. Vibration of steel joists. American
(such as LVDTs) will yield more reliable results since Institute of Steel Construction Engineering Journal, 3(3),
they remove at least one level of approximation. p. 133.

Increase of stress in unbonded tendons in prestressed concrete beams and slabs

PERUMALSAMY
N. BALAGURU
Department of Civil and Etlvironmental Etzgineering, Rutgers, The State Utziversity of New Jersey, Piscatarvay, NJ, U.S.A.
Received December 9, 1980
Manuscript accepted January 5, 198 1
For personal use only.

In the case of prestressed concrete beams with unbonded tendons, in order to design for strength and serviceability, one has
to evaluate the effective prestressing force in the tendon, which is beam dependent rather than section dependent, both at
ultimate and working loads. The formulae available in the published literature deal only with ultimate loadconditions. A simple
equation to predict the tendon stress changes for the complete loading range is presented in this paper. The formula was
developed using the basic theory of flexure to obtain the equation for the elastic curve, and numerical integration to obtain the
curve lengths. Using the computer generated results of the increase in tendon strain for various span lengths, eccentricities,
and maximum deflections, a regression equation was developed. This regression equation predicts the increase in tendon strains
as a function of the span-eccentricity and eccentricity - maximum deflection ratios. The recently published stress-strain
relation which seems to be very accurate is then used to predict the tendon stress. The results are compared with a set of
experimental results. The suggested formula is also consistent with some of the available equations for the prediction of the
tendon stress at ultimate load.

Pour une poutre en bkton prkcontrainte en moyen de clbles non adhkrents, le calcul aux Ctats limites de service et de
rksistance impose le calcul de l'effort rkel dans le clble, qui dkpend du comportement d'ensemble de la poutre plut6t que de
la section, tant B I'ktat ultime qu'en rkgime klastique. Les formules prksentement disponibles dans la littkrature technique ne
visent que l'etat limite de rksistance (rupture). Cet article prksente une expression simple applicable au calcul des changements
de tension pour tout ktat de chargement. En se basant sur la thkorie usuelle de la flexion,,on dkrive I'kquation de la dkformke
qu'on intkgre numkriquement pour obtenir la longueur des troqons courbes. A partir des augmentations de dilatation calculkes
pour diffkrentes portkes, excentricitks et flbches, l'auteur a ktabli une kquation de regression qui permet le calcul de la variation
de la dilatation dans le c2ble en fonction des rapports flkche-excentricitk et excentricitk-portke. On peut alors calculer la
tension dans le clble par retour i la relation contrainte-dilatation d'une grande exactitude publike rkcemment. Ces rksultats
sont comparks B des observations expkrimentales. La formule proposke semble en accord avec quelques expressions permettant
le calcul de la tension sous la charge limite.
[Traduit par la revue]
Can. J. Civ. Eng , 8. 262-268 (1981)

Introduction span-depth ratio; (iv) the deflected shape of the beam;

In the case of beams with unbonded tendons, since
the steel can slip with respect to the surrounding con-
Crete, the stress change in the tendon is member depen-
dent rather than section dependent. The stress in the
tendon would depend o n , among other things: (i) the
initial cable profile; (ii) beam end conditions; (iii) the
(v) the maximum deflection; and (vi) the amount of
initial prestress.
The American Concrete Institute (1977) code provi-
sions recommend a simple formula to predict the stress
in the post tensioned tendons at the time of flexural
failure. However, data from recent tests of a number of

03 15-146818 11020262-07$01 ,0010

01981 National Research Council of CanadaIConseil national de recherches du Canada