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abstract: Lower-limb wearable assistive robots could alter the users gait kinematics by inputting external power, which can be interpreted as mechanical perturbation to subject normal gait. The change in kinematics may affect the dynamic stability. This work attempts to understand the effects of different physical assistance from these robots on the gait dynamic stability. A knee exoskeleton and ankle assistive device (Robotic Shoe) are developed and used to provide walking assistance. The knee exoskeleton provides personalized knee joint assistive torque during the stance phase. The robotic shoe is a light-weighted mechanism that can store the potential energy at heel strike and release it by using an active locking mechanism at the terminal stance phase to provide push-up ankle torque and assist the toe-off. Lower-limb Kinematic time series data are collected for subjects wearing these devices in the passive and active mode. The changes of kinematics with and without these devices on lower-limb motion are first studied. Orbital stability, as one of the commonly used measure to quantify gait stability through calculating Floquet Multipliers (FM), is employed to asses the effects of these wearable devices on gait stability. It is shown that wearing the passive knee exoskeleton causes less orbitally stable gait for users, while the knee joint active assistance improves the orbital stability compared to passive mode. The robotic shoe only affects the targeted joint (right ankle) kinematics, and wearing the passive mechanism significantly increases the ankle joint FM values, which indicates less walking orbital stability. More analysis is done on a mechanically perturbed walking public data set, to show that orbital stability can quantify the effects of external mechanical perturbation on gait dynamic stability. This method can further be used as a control design tool to ensure gait stability for users of lower-limb assistive devices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2018

O trabalho trata da formulação e implementação numérica de um modelo de dano para o concreto. O objetivo é o de reproduzir laços de histerese observados experimentalmente em diagramas de tensão-deformação uniaxiais quando, a partir de um certo nível de solicitação, e dano correspondente, passam-se a realizar ciclos de descarregamento e recarregamento. O modelo propõe que os laços de histerese resultam da dissipação conjunta decorrente do dano evolutivo e do fenômeno de fricção interna nas faces das fissuras. O fenômeno de fricção interna está relacionado à suposição de que as fissuras não se abrem simplesmente por separação formando faces com superfícies lisas, mas tendem a combinar modos de separação e deslizamento segundo superfícies com uma certa rugosidade. O deslizamento entre as faces das fissuras dá origem a uma deformação por escorregamento, assumida como responsável por um comportamento plástico com encruamento cinemático não-linear. A abordagem termodinâmica considerada no sentido de contemplar a danificação e a fricção interna leva à dedução de que a tensão total num ponto do meio com dano resulta dividida em uma parcela dita tensão elasto-danificada e em uma outra denominada tensão de escorregamento, também dependente do nível de danificação da estrutura. Dois tipos básicos de aplicações são realizadas: as primeiras visam avaliar a influência das variáveis de estado e dos parâmetros do material na forma dos diagramas de tensão-deformação. As outras aplicações são dedicadas à utilização do modelo na análise do comportamento dinâmico de uma viga em concreto armado submetida à vibração forçada. Destaca-se o efeito dos laços de histerese sobre o amortecimento estrutural. Mostra-se que a utilização deste modelo de dano leva à geração de um amortecimento estrutural que com os modelos de dano usuais somente poderia ser obtido a partir da utilização do modelo de amortecimento de Rayleigh, por exemplo, na equação do movimento. / This work deals with numerical formulation and implementation of a damage model to concrete. The aim is to reproduce hysteresis loops observed experimentally in uniaxial stress-strain diagram when cycles of unloading and reloading are produced. The model proposes that the hysteresis loops are due to the coupling between the dissipation of damage process and the internal friction phenomenon between the faces of crack lips. The phenomenon of internal friction is related to the supposition that the crack doesn\'t open itself by separation mode creating plane lips, but there is a tendency to combine opening and sliding modes across irregular surfaces. The sliding between the crack surfaces generates a sliding strain, which is assumed as responsible by a plastic behaviour with non-linear kinematics hardening. The thermodynamic approach considering damage and internal friction leads to the deduction that the total stress at a point is composted by one component named elasto-damage stress and another named sliding stress, both dependent of the structure damage level. Two basic kinds of simulation are performed: the first one aims to evaluate the influence of the state variables and the material parameters over the stress-strain diagrams. The following simulations are dedicated to the use of the model in dynamic analysis of a reinforced concrete beam subjected to vibration. It is emphasized the effect of the structural damping from hysteresis loops. It is showed that the present damage model generates structural damping that could only be obtained with conventional damage model by using the Rayleigh damping approach in the equation of motion.

O trabalho trata da formulação e implementação numérica de um modelo de dano para o concreto. O objetivo é o de reproduzir laços de histerese observados experimentalmente em diagramas de tensão-deformação uniaxiais quando, a partir de um certo nível de solicitação, e dano correspondente, passam-se a realizar ciclos de descarregamento e recarregamento. O modelo propõe que os laços de histerese resultam da dissipação conjunta decorrente do dano evolutivo e do fenômeno de fricção interna nas faces das fissuras. O fenômeno de fricção interna está relacionado à suposição de que as fissuras não se abrem simplesmente por separação formando faces com superfícies lisas, mas tendem a combinar modos de separação e deslizamento segundo superfícies com uma certa rugosidade. O deslizamento entre as faces das fissuras dá origem a uma deformação por escorregamento, assumida como responsável por um comportamento plástico com encruamento cinemático não-linear. A abordagem termodinâmica considerada no sentido de contemplar a danificação e a fricção interna leva à dedução de que a tensão total num ponto do meio com dano resulta dividida em uma parcela dita tensão elasto-danificada e em uma outra denominada tensão de escorregamento, também dependente do nível de danificação da estrutura. Dois tipos básicos de aplicações são realizadas: as primeiras visam avaliar a influência das variáveis de estado e dos parâmetros do material na forma dos diagramas de tensão-deformação. As outras aplicações são dedicadas à utilização do modelo na análise do comportamento dinâmico de uma viga em concreto armado submetida à vibração forçada. Destaca-se o efeito dos laços de histerese sobre o amortecimento estrutural. Mostra-se que a utilização deste modelo de dano leva à geração de um amortecimento estrutural que com os modelos de dano usuais somente poderia ser obtido a partir da utilização do modelo de amortecimento de Rayleigh, por exemplo, na equação do movimento. / This work deals with numerical formulation and implementation of a damage model to concrete. The aim is to reproduce hysteresis loops observed experimentally in uniaxial stress-strain diagram when cycles of unloading and reloading are produced. The model proposes that the hysteresis loops are due to the coupling between the dissipation of damage process and the internal friction phenomenon between the faces of crack lips. The phenomenon of internal friction is related to the supposition that the crack doesn\'t open itself by separation mode creating plane lips, but there is a tendency to combine opening and sliding modes across irregular surfaces. The sliding between the crack surfaces generates a sliding strain, which is assumed as responsible by a plastic behaviour with non-linear kinematics hardening. The thermodynamic approach considering damage and internal friction leads to the deduction that the total stress at a point is composted by one component named elasto-damage stress and another named sliding stress, both dependent of the structure damage level. Two basic kinds of simulation are performed: the first one aims to evaluate the influence of the state variables and the material parameters over the stress-strain diagrams. The following simulations are dedicated to the use of the model in dynamic analysis of a reinforced concrete beam subjected to vibration. It is emphasized the effect of the structural damping from hysteresis loops. It is showed that the present damage model generates structural damping that could only be obtained with conventional damage model by using the Rayleigh damping approach in the equation of motion.

Numerical assessment of soil structure interaction problems require heavy computational efforts because of the dynamic and iterative (nonlinear) nature of the problems. Furthermore, modeling soil-structure interaction may require

Στη συγκεκριμένη μεταπτυχιακή εργασία γίνεται ανάλυση των ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφικών καταγραφών επιληπτικών ασθενών με βάση την κλασματική διάσταση για τον εντοπισμό της έναρξης των επιληπτικών κρίσεων καθώς και για την ανίχνευση των επερχόμενων επιληπτικών κρίσεων. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, χρησιμοποιούνται τέσσερις μέθοδοι υπολογισμού της κλασματικής διάστασης στο πεδίο του χρόνου. Πραγματοποιείται μία συγκριτική μελέτη των συγκεκριμένων μεθόδων χρησιμοποιώντας δύο συνθετικά σήματα γνωστής κλασματικής διάστασης και στη συνέχεια οι μέθοδοι εφαρμόζονται σε ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφικές καταγραφές ασθενών που πάσχουν από επιληψία. Η συγκεκριμένη εργασία αποδεικνύει ότι όλες οι μέθοδοι μπορούν και εντοπίζουν την έναρξη των επιληπτικών κρίσεων ενώ η στατιστική ανάλυση δείχνει ότι κάποιες από αυτές τις μεθόδους μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν και ως δείκτες πρόβλεψης των επερχόμενων επιληπτικών κρίσεων. Επίσης, διαπιστώνεται ότι ανάλογα με το είδος των ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφικών καταγραφών, το μέγεθος του παραθύρου και τη ζώνη διέλευσης του φίλτρου τα αποτελέσματα της κλασματικής διάστασης που προκύπτουν επηρεάζονται. / Τhe fractal dimension is a powerful tool in the analysis of electroencephalograms. In this work, four methods of estimating the fractal dimension of electroencephaolographic recordings of epileptic patients directly in the time domain are analyzed and compared. The analysis is performed over both synthetic data and real recordings of epileptic patients. The effects of the type of recordings, the window size and the frequencies in the passband filter are examined. This study shows that the four methods detect the beginning of the epileptic seizures, while the statistic analysis proves that some of these methods can be used for the prediction of the next seizures.

[pt] A análise de vigas sobre base elástica submetidas a cargas estáticas e dinâmicas tem grande importância na engenharia estrutural e fornece ferramentas úteis para resolver problemas práticos como o projeto de fundações e vias férreas, entre outros. Um caso particularmente importante é o estudo do comportamento dinâmico destes elementos estruturais na presença de cargas móveis. Apresenta-se nesta dissertação a análise de vigas prismáticas de comprimento infinito repousando sobre uma fundação elástica do tipo Winkler, submetida à ação de cargas móveis e forças axiais de compressão. Consideram-se cargas concentradas e uniformemente distribuídas em um trecho finito de magnitude constante ou com variação harmônica. A viga é descrita pela teoria linear de Euler-Bernoulli (teoria clássica de vigas) e de Rayleigh (considerando inércia rotacional). A fundação é descrita por uma lei constitutiva não-linear cúbica. Para o caso linear se obtém uma solução analítica exata usando transformadas duplas de Fourier. Emprega-se também o método de Galerkin para a análise do problema linear e não-linear. Para isto, usam-se como funções de forma os modos de vibração livre de vigas finitas e séries de Fourier, sendo o problema resolvido analiticamente no domínio do tempo no caso linear e, mediante integração numérica das equações de movimento no caso não-linear. Apresenta-se uma análise paramétrica para o caso linear, comparando os resultados obtidos pelo método de Galerkin com a solução exata. Para o caso não-linear, estuda-se a influência da não-linearidade da fundação, do raio de giração da seção da viga, da magnitude da força axial compressiva, da velocidade de deslocamento da carga transversal e da variação da amplitude da carga harmônica, nos deslocamentos da viga. / [en] The analysis of beams on elastic foundation subjected to static and dynamic loads is of great importance in structural engineering and provides useful tools to solve practical problems such as the design of foundations and railways, among others. A particularly important case is the study of the dynamic behavior of these structural elements in the presence of moving loads. This dissertation presents the analysis of prismatic beams of infinite length resting on a Winkler-type elastic foundation, subjected to the action of moving loads and compressive axial forces. Concentrated and uniformly distributed loads of a finite length with constant magnitude or harmonic variation are considered. The beam is described by the linear Euler-Bernoulli theory (classical beam theory), considering the effect of rotational inertia (Rayleigh theory). The nonlinear foundation is described by a cubic constitutive law. For the linear case, an exact analytical solution is obtained using the Fourier transform. The Galerkin method is also employed for analyzing both the linear and nonlinear problems. For this, the free vibration modes of simply-supported or clamped beams, Legendre polynomials and Fourier series are used as interpolating functions. The resulting discretized equations of motion are solved analytically in time domain in the linear case and by numerical integration in the nonlinear case. A parametric analysis for the linear case is conducted, comparing the results obtained by the Galerkin method with the exact solution. For the nonlinear problem, the influence of the nonlinearity of the foundation, the radius of gyration of the beam cross-section, the magnitude of the axial compressive force, the velocity of the moving load and the magnitude and frequency of the moving harmonic loads on the displacements of the beam are studied in detailed.

Η πλειονότητα των ερευνητών/ειδικών του αντισεισμικού σχεδιασμού συμφωνεί πως μια υπολογιστική διαδικασία που θα έχει ως βασική παράμετρο της απόκρισης τις σεισμικές μετακινήσεις θα είναι πιο ορθολογική και πιθανότατα πιο οικονομική απ’ τη συμβατική μεθοδολογία σχεδιασμού βάσει δυνάμεων. Η έλλειψη μιας μεθοδολογίας αντισεισμικού σχεδιασμού γεφυρών βάσει μετακινήσεων που να είναι απλή, εφικτή και συμβατή με την εφαρμοζόμενη πρακτική και η απουσία πρότασης σχεδιασμού των περιοχών του φορέα βάσει μετακινήσεων, αποδεικνύει το γνωστικό κενό που υπάρχει σ’ αυτή την περιοχή του αντισεισμικού σχεδιασμού. Η παρούσα εργασία επιχειρεί να συμβάλλει στην πλήρωση αυτού του κενού και προς τούτο προτείνει μια νέα μεθοδολογία. Αναφέρεται σε (μή-μονωμένες) γέφυρες σκυροδέματος και περιλαμβάνει μια απλή διαδικασία για την εκτίμηση των απαιτούμενων ανελαστικών παραμορφώσεων, τόσο των βάθρων, όσο και των περιοχών του φορέα - κάνοντας χρήση ελαστικής φασματικής ανάλυσης και επεκτείνοντας τον κανόνα των "Ίσων Μετακινήσεων" στο τοπικό επίπεδο. Η διαδικασία αναπτύσσεται και βαθμονομείται βάσει (σχεδόν δύο χιλιάδων) μή-γραμμικών δυναμικών αναλύσεων (με εν χρόνω ολοκλήρωση) αντιπροσωπευτικών γεφυρών, τριών έως πέντε ανοιγμάτων. Όμως για την εφαρμογή της απαιτούνται μόνο ελαστικά εργαλεία. Σε αντίθεση με τις έως τώρα ερευνητικές προσπάθειες, όπου γίνεται η απλουστευτική παραδοχή γραμμικής συμπεριφοράς του φορέα, στην παρούσα έρευνα δίνεται έμφαση στην προσομοίωση των περιοχών του φορέα και λαμβάνονται υπ’ όψιν οι μή-γραμμικότητές του. Από την εφαρμογή του διαπιστώνεται ότι ο προτεινόμενος σχεδιασμός βάσει μετακινήσεων προσφέρει πολύ οικονομικότερα ποσοστά όπλισης (από 1/2 έως 1/7 στο διαμήκη οπλισμό και από 1/1 έως 1/3 στον εγκάρσιο οπλισμό), χωρίς να επιβαρύνει ουσιαστικά την επιτελεστικότητα της γέφυρας - η υπεραντοχή των γεφυρών που σχεδιάζονται με την προτεινόμενη μεθοδολογία είναι πρακτικά ισοδύναμη με την υπεραντοχή των συμβατικά σχεδιασμένων γεφυρών. Η παρουσίαση της μεθοδολογίας περιλαμβάνει την περιγραφή της διαδικασίας σχεδιασμού υπό μορφή αλγόριθμου (Κεφ. 2), του τρόπου εφαρμογής της στην πράξη (διαδικασία προσομοίωσης, παραδείγματα σχεδιασμού: Κεφ. 3), του θεωρητικού υποβάθρου βάσει του οποίου αναπτύχθηκε (Κεφ. 4), των προβλημάτων της συμβατικής μεθοδολογίας (παραδείγματα σχεδιασμού βάσει δυνάμεων: Κεφ. 3) και των κενών που διαπιστώνονται στην τεκμηρίωση της συμβατικής μεθοδολογίας (Κεφ. 4). Η αποτίμηση του σχεδιασμού (Κεφ. 3) δεκαέξι αντιπροσωπευτικών γεφυρών (οκτώ σχεδιασμένων βάσει μετακινήσεων και οκτώ συμβατικά σχεδιασμένων), παρουσιάζεται υπό μορφή παράλληλης σύγκρισης της επιτελεστικότητας και συνηγορεί υπέρ των πλεονεκτημάτων της νέας μεθοδολογίας. Στα Παραρτήματα δίνονται πληροφορίες για τα υπολογιστικά εργαλεία που αναπτύχθηκαν για την προσομοίωση και την ανάλυση των γεφυρών (επέκταση προγράμματος ANSRuop). / The majority of seismic design researchers/specialists concludes that displacement-based design methodologies reduce the uncertainty of the design process and probably lead to less expensive structures. The absence of a simple displacement-based seismic design procedure for bridges that will be feasible and compatible with the current design practice and the nonexistence of a proposal for the displacement-based design of the deck indicate the gap of knowledge in this field of earthquake engineering. This thesis attempts to contribute to the reduction of this gap and for this scope proposes a new methodology. The procedure focuses on bridges with concrete piers monolithically connected to a prestressed concrete continuous deck and comprises simple steps for the estimation of the inelastic/nonlinear deformations of both the piers and the deck - through elastic modal response spectrum analysis, extending the applicability of the "equal displacement" rule to the level of member deformations. About two thousands nonlinear dynamic (time-history) analyses of several representative bridges (with deck of three or five spans) are used for the development and the calibration of the procedure. However, for the application of the methodology only elastic modal response spectrum analysis is needed. Contrary to other current researches, which adopt the hypothesis of deck elastic response, the nonlinearities of the deck are modeled. The proposed displacement-based procedure offers lower reinforcement ratios (from 1/2 to 1/7 for the longitudinal reinforcement and from 1/1 to 1/3 for the transverse reinforcement) at no detriment to the expected seismic performance - the global overstrength of the bridges which are designed with the proposed procedure is practically equivalent to the global overstrength of the conventionally designed bridges (current force-based design). The step by step description of the design algorithm (Chap. 2) is followed by the practical application of the methodology (modeling aspects, design examples: Chap. 3), the conceptual justification (Chap. 4), the deficiencies of the conventional design procedure (force-based design examples: Chap. 3) and the fallacies in the justification of the conventional design methodology (Chap. 4). Comparative performance-based design evaluation (Chap. 3) of sixteen representative bridges (eight bridges subjected to alternative seismic design) indicates the benefits of the proposed procedure. The computational capabilities which were developed for the modeling and the analysis of the bridges are described in the appendices (upgrade of program ANSRuop).

Atualmente, o crescimento dos problemas de vibrações excessivas sobre pisos mistos (aço-concreto) tem conduzido à necessidade de desenvolvimento de critérios específicos para projetos estruturais submetidos à ação de atividades humanas rítmicas. Com base no desenvolvimento desta dissertação de mestrado, objetiva-se, principalmente, verificar a influência das ligações estruturais (ligações viga-viga), sobre a resposta dinâmica não-linear de pisos mistos (aço-concreto) de edificações, quando submetidos a cargas dinâmicas humanas rítmicas. Deste modo, o carregamento dinâmico empregado para a simulação das atividades humanas sobre o modelo estrutural investigado foi obtido através de testes experimentais com indivíduos praticando atividades rítmicas e não rítmicas. O modelo analisado nesta dissertação corresponde a um piso misto (aço-concreto) com uma área total de 1600m2 e consiste de um ambiente onde serão desenvolvidas atividades de ginástica aeróbica. O sistema estrutural é constituído por lajes de concreto armado apoiadas sobre vigas de aço, simulando o comportamento de um sistema estrutural misto (aço-concreto) com interação total. A metodologia de análise desenvolvida emprega técnicas usuais de discretização presentes no método dos elementos finitos, com base no emprego do programa ANSYS. A modelagem do sistema contempla ligações estruturais do tipo rígidas, semirrígidas e flexíveis. Os valores das acelerações de pico foram comparados com os limites recomendados por normas de projeto, baseando-se em critérios de conforto humano. As conclusões alcançadas ao longo deste trabalho de pesquisa revelam que as ligações estruturais do tipo viga-viga não apresentam influência significativa, no que diz respeito a resposta dinâmica não-linear da estrutura. Por outro lado, as acelerações de pico obtidas com base na análise dinâmica não-linear apresentam valores elevados indicando que o piso misto (aço-concreto) investigado apresenta problemas de vibração excessiva inerentes ao conforto humano. / Nowadays, the increasing incidence of composite (steel-concrete) floors vibration problems due to human rhythmic activities led to a specific design criteria to be addressed in structural design. The main objective of this investigation is to evaluate the influence of the structural connections (beam-to-beam connections) on the composite floors nonlinear dynamic response, when submitted to human rhythmic dynamic loads. The dynamic loads were obtained through experimental tests with individuals carrying out rhythmic and non-rhythmic activities. The investigated structural model was based on building composite floors and consisted of a typical office building interior bay with a total are of 1600m2 used for aerobics. The structural system are composed of a composite (steel-concrete) solution made of an I steel profile and a reinforced concrete slab. In this investigation a complete interaction between the concrete slab and steel beams was considered. The proposed analysis methodology adopted the usual mesh refinement techniques present in the finite element method simulations implemented in the ANSYS program. The structural system finite element modelling have considered rigid, semi-rigid and pinned beam-to-beam joints. The peak accelerations were compared with limits proposed by design codes and recommendations, based on human comfort criteria. The results obtained in this investigation indicated that the structural connections (beam-to-beam connections) can have a relevant influence on the composite floor nonlinear dynamic response. On the other hand, the peak accelerations obtained in this investigation, based on a nonlinear dynamic analysis, indicated that the investigated composite floor violated the human comfort criteria, as well as its vibration serviceability limit states.

Atualmente, o crescimento dos problemas de vibrações excessivas sobre pisos mistos (aço-concreto) tem conduzido à necessidade de desenvolvimento de critérios específicos para projetos estruturais submetidos à ação de atividades humanas rítmicas. Com base no desenvolvimento desta dissertação de mestrado, objetiva-se, principalmente, verificar a influência das ligações estruturais (ligações viga-viga), sobre a resposta dinâmica não-linear de pisos mistos (aço-concreto) de edificações, quando submetidos a cargas dinâmicas humanas rítmicas. Deste modo, o carregamento dinâmico empregado para a simulação das atividades humanas sobre o modelo estrutural investigado foi obtido através de testes experimentais com indivíduos praticando atividades rítmicas e não rítmicas. O modelo analisado nesta dissertação corresponde a um piso misto (aço-concreto) com uma área total de 1600m2 e consiste de um ambiente onde serão desenvolvidas atividades de ginástica aeróbica. O sistema estrutural é constituído por lajes de concreto armado apoiadas sobre vigas de aço, simulando o comportamento de um sistema estrutural misto (aço-concreto) com interação total. A metodologia de análise desenvolvida emprega técnicas usuais de discretização presentes no método dos elementos finitos, com base no emprego do programa ANSYS. A modelagem do sistema contempla ligações estruturais do tipo rígidas, semirrígidas e flexíveis. Os valores das acelerações de pico foram comparados com os limites recomendados por normas de projeto, baseando-se em critérios de conforto humano. As conclusões alcançadas ao longo deste trabalho de pesquisa revelam que as ligações estruturais do tipo viga-viga não apresentam influência significativa, no que diz respeito a resposta dinâmica não-linear da estrutura. Por outro lado, as acelerações de pico obtidas com base na análise dinâmica não-linear apresentam valores elevados indicando que o piso misto (aço-concreto) investigado apresenta problemas de vibração excessiva inerentes ao conforto humano. / Nowadays, the increasing incidence of composite (steel-concrete) floors vibration problems due to human rhythmic activities led to a specific design criteria to be addressed in structural design. The main objective of this investigation is to evaluate the influence of the structural connections (beam-to-beam connections) on the composite floors nonlinear dynamic response, when submitted to human rhythmic dynamic loads. The dynamic loads were obtained through experimental tests with individuals carrying out rhythmic and non-rhythmic activities. The investigated structural model was based on building composite floors and consisted of a typical office building interior bay with a total are of 1600m2 used for aerobics. The structural system are composed of a composite (steel-concrete) solution made of an I steel profile and a reinforced concrete slab. In this investigation a complete interaction between the concrete slab and steel beams was considered. The proposed analysis methodology adopted the usual mesh refinement techniques present in the finite element method simulations implemented in the ANSYS program. The structural system finite element modelling have considered rigid, semi-rigid and pinned beam-to-beam joints. The peak accelerations were compared with limits proposed by design codes and recommendations, based on human comfort criteria. The results obtained in this investigation indicated that the structural connections (beam-to-beam connections) can have a relevant influence on the composite floor nonlinear dynamic response. On the other hand, the peak accelerations obtained in this investigation, based on a nonlinear dynamic analysis, indicated that the investigated composite floor violated the human comfort criteria, as well as its vibration serviceability limit states.