• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.471-489
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• 2016

Modal identification based on ambient vibration data has attracted extensive attention in the past few decades. Since the excitation for ambient vibration tests is mainly from the environmental effects such as wind and traffic loading and no artificial excitation is applied, the signal to noise (s/n) ratio of the data acquired plays an important role in mode identifiability. Under ambient vibration conditions, certain modes may not be identifiable due to a low s/n ratio. This paper presents a study on the mode identifiability of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge with the use of acceleration response data measured by a long-term structural health monitoring system. A recently developed fast Bayesian FFT method is utilized to perform output-only modal identification. In addition to identifying the most probable values (MPVs) of modal parameters, the associated posterior uncertainties can be obtained by this method. Likewise, the power spectral density of modal force can be identified, and thus it is possible to obtain the modal s/n ratio. This provides an efficient way to investigate the mode identifiability. Three groups of data are utilized in this study: the first one is 10 data sets including six collected under normal wind conditions and four collected during typhoons; the second one is three data sets with wind speeds of about 7.5 m/s; and the third one is some blind data. The first two groups of data are used to perform ambient modal identification and help to estimate a critical value of the s/n ratio above which the deficient mode is identifiable, while the third group of data is used to perform verification. A couple of fundamental modes are identified, including the ones in the vertical and transverse directions respectively and coupled in both directions. The uncertainty and s/n ratio of the deficient mode are investigated and discussed. A critical value of the modal s/n ratio is suggested to evaluate the mode identifiability of the deficient mode. The work presented in this paper could provide a base for the vibration-based condition assessment in future.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.60-68
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• 2012

This study describes an analytical and experimental investigation of the pedestrian steel-deck truss bridge in the City of Rochester, New York, U.S.A. This investigation was undertaken to provide assurance that this important bridge continues to be functional for this use. An ambient vibration experiment on full-scale structures is a way of assessing the reliability of the various assumptions employed in the mathematical models used in analysis. It is also the most reliable way of determining the structural parameters of major importance in structural dynamics, such as the mode shapes and the associated natural frequencies. Pedestrian-induced vibrations have been measured on the bridge to determine the displacement and the vertical and transverse dynamic characteristics of the steel deck truss. In the analytical modeling, three-dimensional finite element analysis was developed and validated against the ambient tests.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.2 s.54
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• pp.27-38
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• 2007

A series of forced vibration tests and ambient vibration measurement was conducted on a four-story reinforced concrete building damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Both low amplitude broadband and moderate amplitude harmonic excitation were applied using a linear shaker and two eccentric mass shakers, respectively, and ambient vibrations were measured before and after each forced vibration test. Accelerations, interstory displacements, and curvature distributions were monitored using accelerometers, LVDTs and concrete strain gauges. Natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes fur the first 7 modes were identified. Fundamental frequencies determined from the eccentric mass shaker tests were 70% to 75% of the values determined using ambient vibration data, and 92% to 93% of the values determined using the linear shaker test data. Larger frequency drops were observed in the NS direction of the building, apparently due to damage that was induced during the Northridge earthquake.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.147-156
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• 2007

This study offers a design procedure of optimum cable damper for multi-mode vibration control with nonlinear damper and also investigate the relation between mode and amplitude dependency. The proposed multi-mode damping index, which is defined as a energy loss ratio of cable potential, is a main component of optimization problem of optimum nonlinear damper. In order to include the amplitude dependency of nonlinear damper, it is assumed to exist three kinds of multi-mode patterns such as ambient vibration, support excitation and rain-win induced vibration. The optimum damper exponent depends on amplitude patterns. In case of ambient vibration, optimum factor is less than 0.5. In case of support excitation or rain-wind induced vibration is between 0.5 and 1.0. In this study, the effects of cable sag and inclination angle are included in the asymptotic design equation of damped cable structures.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2011

Recently, as the catastrophic disasters due to earthquake happen frequently all over the world, it draws lots of attention to seismic capacity evaluation and/or structural integrity assessment of deteriorated civil infra-structures. However, there have been few studies on the existing dam flood gates, expecially in Korea. In this study, a proper vibration testing method applicable to a dam flood gate has been suggested, since the dynamic characteristics of a darn flood gate can be fundamental data for seismic capacity evaluation or structural integrity assessment. The frequency domain decomposition technique has been incorporated for modal parameter identification. Two kinds of vibration tests using an impact hammer and ambient vibration sources were carried out on two types of dam floodgates with different shapes. Through the field tests, the effectiveness of the ambient vibration tests were verified.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.231-247
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• 2014

This paper focuses on the dynamic behaviour of Mirandola City Hall (a XV century Renaissance Palace) that was severely damaged during May 2012 Emilia earthquake in Northern Italy. Experimental investigations have been carried out on this monumental building. Firstly, detailed investigations have been carried out to identify the identification of the geometry of the main constructional parts as well as the mechanical features of the constituting materials of the palace. Then, Ambient Vibration Tests (AVT) have been applied, for the detection of the main dynamic features. Three output-only identification methods have been compared: (i) the Frequency Domain Decomposition, (ii) the Random Decrement (RD) and the (iii) Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA). The modal parameters of the Palace were difficult to be identified due to the severe structural damage; however the two bending modes in the perpendicular directions were identified. The comparison of the three experimental techniques showed a good agreement confirming the reliability of the three identification methods.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.391-398
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• 2001

This paper presents the application method of a wavelet theory for identification of the structural dynamic properties of a bridge, which is based on the ambient vibration signal caused by the traffic loadings. The method utilizes the time-scale decomposition of the ambient vibration signal , i . e. the continuous wavelet transform using the Morlet wavelet is used to decompose the ambient vibration signal into the time-scale domain. The applicability of the proposed approach is verified through the reduced scale bridge and automobile system in the laboratory. The results of verification shows that the use of the Morlet wavelet to identify the structural dynamic properties is reasonable and practicable.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.325-339
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• 2013

A number of structural and modal parameters are derived from the strong motion records of an instrumented G + 9 storeyed RC building during Bhuj earthquake, 26 Jan. 2001 in India. Some of the extracted parameters are peak floor accelerations, storey drift and modal characteristics. Modal parameters of the building are also compared with the values obtained from ambient vibration survey of the instrumented building after the occurrence of earthquake. These parameters are further used for calibrating the accuracy of fixed-base Finite Element (FE) models considering structural and non-structural elements. Some conclusions are drawn based on theoretical and experimental results obtained from strong motion records and time history analysis of FE models. An important outcome of the study is that strong motion peak acceleration profile in two horizontal directions is close to FE model in which masonry infill walls are modeled.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.1
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• pp.121-128
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• 2020

This paper presents an experimental study on the dynamic characteristics of infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames. A 1/3-scaled, one-bay, three-storey RC frame was produced and tested by using operational modal analysis (OMA). The experiments were performed on five specimens: one reference frame with no infill walls and four frames with infill walls. The RC frame systems included infill walls made of hollow clay brick, which were constructed in four different patterns. The dynamic characteristics of the patterns, including the frequency, mode shapes and damping ratios in the in-plane direction, were obtained by 6 accelerometers. Twenty-minute records under ambient vibration were collected for each model, and the dynamic characteristics were determined using the ambient vibration testing and modal identification software (ARTeMIS). The experimental studies showed that the infill walls significantly affected the frequency value, rigidity and damping ratio of the RC frame system.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.594-603
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• 2018

Recently, according to the development of measurement techniques, it has become possible to take complicated and time-consuming field measurements in a simple and convenient manner. In this background, this study estimated the tension of cables under ambient vibration using minimized measurement and signal processing. The VBDM using video-only by low-cost equipment was used as a minimized measurement. An estimation of the natural frequency using the mirror frequency concept was also proposed to solve the shortage of frequency band in this case. Furthermore, the FDD method was adopted for a natural frequency estimation in the ambient vibration related to field application. Experimental studies using a cable-stayed bridge model were carried out to examine the properties of the mirror frequency and the applicability of FDD with the proposed minimized system. The results showed that FDD for ambient vibration also works properly in an estimation of the natural frequency using the minimized system. In addition, the mirror frequency concept can allow a high natural frequency estimation even in a distorted signal by low-speed recording, which can overcome the limit of the minimized system. Overall, the proposed minimized system can be effective for the tension estimations of a cable under ambient vibration.