Project overview
An existing office floor set within a multi-use commercial building in London, UK, that served as an office environment had experienced human-induced floor vibration problems. The floor was deemed wobbly and lively.
The floor space comprised typical column layouts of between 9m to 12m with a composite steel-concrete floor system spanning between secondary and primary beams.
The challenge
Response (R) factors in the office space were examined and were shown to be as high as 10.9 in some locations, i.e. the occupant’s workstation as shown in the contour plot (figure 1) above. To mitigate this, the customer researched various vibration control solutions.
The conventional solutions explored were unacceptable to the customer due to the significant structural interventions required, higher embodied carbon and significant disruption to ongoing operations in the occupied floor and building. The customer wanted to implement a more efficient solution that would require no structural modifications. The new CALM@FLOOR technology was the only solution that met these requirements.
The solution
The 67kg CALMFLOOR units installed on the customer’s floor avoided the need for costly and building disruption whilst outperforming any alternative options. CALMFLOOR units were easy to install, required no structural modifications and could be deployed on the floor vibration hot-spots.
The contour plot (figure 2) below shows the strategic positions (shown as purple squares) of CALMFLOOR units to control vibration on the floor: this active mass damping technology delivered an almost 75% reduction in the response. The value engineering provided by CALMFLOOR is unique: each unit is quick and easy to fit and will upgrade vibration performance providing welcome economy and sustainable features.
The result
CALMFLOOR active damper technology maintained the design benefits, versatility and comfort of long floor spans without any structural modifications. CALMFLOOR units were easily deployed and installed and have been very low maintenance. The 75% reduction in vibration responses for this office floor gave our customer an efficient solution and upgraded the environment to a high-performance space that would better match the occupants’ needs.
