The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Reproduction of lateral ground reaction forces from visual marker data and analysis of balance response while walking on a laterally oscillating deck

Reproduction of lateral ground reaction forces from visual marker data and analysis of balance response while walking on a laterally oscillating deck
Reproduction of lateral ground reaction forces from visual marker data and analysis of balance response while walking on a laterally oscillating deck
Pedestrians walking on a laterally oscillating structure are known to impose ground reaction forces that contain frequency components at the structural oscillation frequency. These forces arise due to the interaction between the balancing pedestrian and oscillating structure on which they walk. They are therefore often termed self-excited (SE) forces. The dynamic influence of these SE forces is to alter the apparent modal mass and damping of the structure. However, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the root cause of these forces, it is necessary to consider the biomechanical response to base motion, as it is this that ultimately generates the ground reaction force (GRF). This paper presents observations from a test campaign in which subjects walked on a laterally oscillating treadmill. A 3-dimensional motion capture camera system was used to track the position of 31 active markers, placed on each subject during walking tests. A range of frequencies and amplitudes were tested. The initial objective was to employ inverse dynamics to reproduce the GRF. This was successfully validated against the directly measured GRF. Marker data was then used to investigate subject’s balance response to base motion. Data relating to a single subject is presented in detail here. Various observations have been made, the most significant of which are that the underlying cause of the SE GRF was confirmed as resulting from a periodic variation of lateral foot placement position. The frequency of variation was found to be equal to the modulus of the difference between the lateral forcing and oscillation frequencies. The subject’s tendency to alter their gait was induced by a sinusoidally varying inertia force imposed due to the base oscillation. Periodic gait width alteration ceased when the pedestrian’s lateral forcing frequency was matched to the base oscillation frequency, explained by stabilisation of the phase relationship between the forcing and oscillation frequencies. Finally, amplitude modulation was found to be a qualitatively suitable mathematical analogue for the biomechanical behaviour observed.
Human-induced vibration, biomechanics, motion capture, footbridge, amplitude modulation, lateral dynamic instability
0141-0296
1034-1047
Carroll, S.P.
883bcf33-c37e-4d4d-b77f-468c77b5e7ee
Owen, J.S.
63c08cad-d6cd-45ce-8313-d1d27a448f8c
Hussein, M.F.M.
3535c131-1710-4edc-a4a1-8fe67dee3f67
Carroll, S.P.
883bcf33-c37e-4d4d-b77f-468c77b5e7ee
Owen, J.S.
63c08cad-d6cd-45ce-8313-d1d27a448f8c
Hussein, M.F.M.
3535c131-1710-4edc-a4a1-8fe67dee3f67

Carroll, S.P., Owen, J.S. and Hussein, M.F.M. (2013) Reproduction of lateral ground reaction forces from visual marker data and analysis of balance response while walking on a laterally oscillating deck. Engineering Structures, 49, 1034-1047. (doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2012.12.028).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Pedestrians walking on a laterally oscillating structure are known to impose ground reaction forces that contain frequency components at the structural oscillation frequency. These forces arise due to the interaction between the balancing pedestrian and oscillating structure on which they walk. They are therefore often termed self-excited (SE) forces. The dynamic influence of these SE forces is to alter the apparent modal mass and damping of the structure. However, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the root cause of these forces, it is necessary to consider the biomechanical response to base motion, as it is this that ultimately generates the ground reaction force (GRF). This paper presents observations from a test campaign in which subjects walked on a laterally oscillating treadmill. A 3-dimensional motion capture camera system was used to track the position of 31 active markers, placed on each subject during walking tests. A range of frequencies and amplitudes were tested. The initial objective was to employ inverse dynamics to reproduce the GRF. This was successfully validated against the directly measured GRF. Marker data was then used to investigate subject’s balance response to base motion. Data relating to a single subject is presented in detail here. Various observations have been made, the most significant of which are that the underlying cause of the SE GRF was confirmed as resulting from a periodic variation of lateral foot placement position. The frequency of variation was found to be equal to the modulus of the difference between the lateral forcing and oscillation frequencies. The subject’s tendency to alter their gait was induced by a sinusoidally varying inertia force imposed due to the base oscillation. Periodic gait width alteration ceased when the pedestrian’s lateral forcing frequency was matched to the base oscillation frequency, explained by stabilisation of the phase relationship between the forcing and oscillation frequencies. Finally, amplitude modulation was found to be a qualitatively suitable mathematical analogue for the biomechanical behaviour observed.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 31 January 2013
Published date: April 2013
Keywords: Human-induced vibration, biomechanics, motion capture, footbridge, amplitude modulation, lateral dynamic instability
Organisations: Dynamics Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354629
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354629
ISSN: 0141-0296
PURE UUID: 57126e90-00f4-487a-bcd4-3d018010e9cb

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 Jul 2013 13:27
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 14:22

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: S.P. Carroll
Author: J.S. Owen
Author: M.F.M. Hussein

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×