The effects of human loads on structures are difficult to
predict because they depend on the type of activity people are performing.
However, models for typical activities such as standing, sitting and jumping
have been proposed in the literature. Traditional models represent the human
body as a system of lumped masses, dampers and springs arranged in a system
with multiple degrees of freedom. Arguably, these models might not fully
represent the human body because lumped masses, dampers and springs cannot add
energy to the overall system. Controller systems have been widely used in electrical,
seismic and other fields of engineering for systems in which setting a specific
response is important. Given that the human acts like a controller system,
where the feedback affects the response of the system, and the specific use of
controllers is becoming common in structural engineering, this research
developed a controller model to reproduce the phenomenon of Human-Structure
Interaction (HSI).
