Good Vibrations? Measuring, Feeling, and Fixing Building Motion

Ever felt a floor bounce underfoot and wondered whether it's a problem? In this hands-on session, you won't just hear about building vibration—you'll measure it, feel it, and see it controlled in real time. Vibration is often an afterthought until occupants complain, equipment malfunctions, or adjacent construction raises alarms, but for design engineers it's a practical, everyday design consideration. We'll work through the full stack of vibration concerns—from vibrations that cause structural damage, to those that cause human annoyance, to those that disrupt sensitive equipment—with floor vibration as the central thread. Along the way we'll cover common sources like footfall, mechanical equipment, fitness uses, transit, and construction, and ground the discussion in the criteria engineers actually use: AISC Design Guide 11, ISO-based human comfort criteria, construction vibration limits, and criteria for sensitive equipment.

The heart of the session is live demonstration. Using seismographs, wired and wireless accelerometers, an active mass damper, and potentially a laser vibrometer, you'll watch vibration measured, processed, and interpreted as it happens—and experience controlled vibration levels firsthand, connecting abstract design criteria to what your body actually perceives. We'll close with a practical look at how vibration problems get modeled and fixed: model calibration, stiffening, added mass, damping, tuned mass dampers, active control, and the judgment behind retrofit decisions. Come ready to feel the difference between a number on a page and a floor moving under your feet.

8:15-8:30 - Q&A

1 hour PDH will be offered.

Speaker:

Richard Lindenberg, P.E., S.E., is an Associate Principal at WJE in Washington, D.C., specializing in structural instrumentation, health monitoring, and sound and vibration evaluation. Over two decades at WJE, he has investigated and mitigated floor, stadium, and construction vibration problems across offices, laboratories, hospitals, museums, sports venues, and historic structures, pairing field instrumentation with finite element modeling—including the design of tuned mass dampers. He has authored papers and delivered presentations on floor vibration assessment and mitigation, and is a member of ASCE, ASA, and IEST.