Investigation of comfort due to vibration in buildings

Today, rapidly spreading transportation networks, developing of technology, increasing of mechanization and construction make vibrational events a part of our lives. All external vibrations except of nature events are mechanical vibrations created by the operation of machines. The spread of mechanical vibrations began with the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 18th century, with production benches, trains, etc. In the second half of the 19th century, studies dealing with human comfort were carried out and international standards started to be established in the 1970s. In order to be able to evaluate vibration event with scientific methods, it is necessary to understand the vibration event, its measurable values and the relation between them. The sources of vibration can be located outside and/or inside the building. Since each of the sources of vibration has different characteristics, the transmission, propagation, and magnitude of the effect of the vibrations will vary. Vibrations are usually investigated within the context of damage and earthquake, with the effects of the building, but there may be cases where the function of building has decreased function though it has not been damaged. The people who use the buildings due to the effects of the vibration events decrease the quality of life that they feel sick or feel uncomfortable in the place they stay in. The comfort topic is often overlooked or insufficient. While examining the structure in terms of vibration comfort, the comfort standards and calculation methods used in the world were investigated in order to make scientific explanations and inferences besides comfort-discomfort. TSE approved ISO 2631-2 and DIN 4150-2 standards are accepted for use in measurements. In the publication of ISO 2631-2 standard 2001, the limit values have been removed by considering that the parameters forming the limit values are insufficient and it is reported that the standard is used for data collection and comparison at the following stage. In order to evaluate the structure in terms of vibrational comfort with an experimental method, 10 buildings with different vibration sources, operating and structure were selected and vibration measurements were made with the accelerometer. Three measurements of 20 minutes were made in each building separately for the two standards. After describing the typical characteristics and measured values of buildings, all buildings were analyzed and vibration sources, structure and floor numbers were compared. The obtained data were evaluated on the basis of the analyzes and conclusions were made and the buildings were examined in terms of user comfort. The standards used in the measurement were also compared and their consistency checked and their suitability confirmed. When the numerical data obtained are evaluated, all the structures are provided with the limit values specified in DIN 4150-2 standard. As a result of comparison and detailed examination of all measurements, the factors that affect comfort are evaluated. The highest vibration values are those whose internal vibration sources are very effective. Despite the availability of effective external vibration sources, achieving low values in many structures indicates that external vibration sources are not as effective as expected. High buildings have high vibration values even in buildings where there is no apparent internal vibration source, indicating that the number of floors is important. Because of the stiffness of reinforced concrete buildings among different structures, it is necessary to have low vibration values, but having higher vibration values indicates that the structure is not as effective as expected.