Previous researchers have studied the lateral buckling of I-joists in attempts to determine the lateral buckling load using wood design literature. One area where the lateral buckling of I-joists may pose a danger to workers is during the construction of floors, when workers walk on unbraced I-joists. This practice is not recommended by the manufacturer and is ill-advised. The purpose of this research was to present preliminary results which can be used in later work to study the lateral buckling of I-joists caused by humans. A novel loading jig to quantify the lateral buckling due to vertical loads was developed. The results of this testing were investigated as to how the lateral buckling load is precisely determined, especially when applied to humans. Lateral buckling due to subjects walking on unbraced beams was observed and the measured loading contains a significant dynamic load component which should be addressed.
展开▼
