Abstract Summary
Wind can create bidirectional horizontal vibrations in tall buildings, characterized by high displacement and low frequency bandwidth typically between 0.1-1 Hz. Effects of higher frequency vibrations on humans, particularly in the vertical direction, are well researched in the literature since 40s. However, effects of low frequency horizontal vibrations similar to those created by winds in tall buildings are not well understood. This research provides experimental evidences of the effects of such vibrations on human Balance and risk of falls. The experiments are carried out in the state-of-the-art Bath VSimulators facility, enabling realistic simulation of the wind-induced vibrations in tall buildings, and a fully controlled environmental conditions including temperature, and visual and audio cues. The results show significant effects of wind-induced vibrations on balance, even for low vibration magnitudes below 10mg, with up to one standard deviation deterioration in balance parameters compared to the control condition.
