• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.2038-2045
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• 2021

The main objective of this work is to propose a reliable routine standard operation procedures (SOP) for structural health monitoring and diagnosis of nuclear power plants (NPPs). At present, NPPs have monitoring systems that can be used to obtain the quantitative health record of containment (CTMT) buildings through system identification technology. However, because the measurement signals are often interfered with by noise, the identification results may introduce erroneous conclusions if the measured data is directly adopted. Therefore, this paper recommends the SOP for signal screening and the required identification procedures to identify the dynamic characteristics of the CTMT of NPPs. In the SOP, three recommend methods are proposed including the Recursive Least Squares (RLS), the Observer Kalman Filter Identification/Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (OKID/ERA), and the Frequency Response Function (FRF). The identification results can be verified by comparing the results of different methods. Finally, a preliminary CTMT healthy record can be established based on the limited number of earthquake records. It can be served as the quantitative reference to expedite the restart procedure. If the fundamental frequency of the CTMT drops significantly after the Operating Basis Earthquake and Safe Shutdown Earthquake (OBE/SSE), it means that the restart actions suggested by the regulatory guide should be taken in place immediately.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

The paper presents a Bayesian Finite element (FE) model updating methodology by utilizing modal data. The dynamic condensation technique is adopted in this work to reduce the full system model to a smaller model version such that the degrees of freedom (DOFs) in the reduced model correspond to the observed DOFs, which facilitates the model updating procedure without any mode-matching. The present work considers both the MPV and the covariance matrix of the modal parameters as the modal data. Besides, the modal data identified from multiple setups is considered for the model updating procedure, keeping in view of the realistic scenario of inability of limited number of sensors to measure the response of all the interested DOFs of a large structure. A relationship is established between the modal data and structural parameters based on the eigensystem equation through the introduction of additional uncertain parameters in the form of modal frequencies and partial mode shapes. A novel sampling strategy known as the Metropolis-within-Gibbs (MWG) sampler is proposed to sample from the posterior Probability Density Function (PDF). The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by considering both simulated and experimental examples.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.463-479
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• 2007

A series of wind tunnel sectional model dynamic tests of a twin-deck bridge were conducted at the CLP Power Wind/Wave Tunnel Facility (WWTF) of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to investigate the effects of gap-width on the self-excited vibrations and the dynamic and aerodynamic characteristics of the bridge. Five 2.9 m long models with different gap-widths were fabricated and suspended in the wind tunnel to simulate a two-degrees-of-freedom (2DOF) bridge dynamic system, free to vibrate in both vertical and torsional directions. The mass, vertical frequency, and the torsional-to-vertical frequency ratio of the 2DOF systems were fixed to emphasize the effects of gap-width. A free-vibration test methodology was employed and the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) was utilized to extract the eight flutter derivatives and the modal parameters from the coupled free-decay responses. The results of the zero gap-width configuration were in reasonable agreement with the theoretical values for an ideal thin flat plate in smooth flow and the published results of models with similar cross-sections, thus validating the experimental and analytical techniques utilized in this study. The methodology was further verified by the comparison between the measured and predicted free-decay responses. A comparison of results for different gap-widths revealed that variations of the gap-width mainly affect the torsional damping property, and that the configurations with greater gap-widths show a higher torsional damping ratio and hence stronger aerodynamic stability of the bridge.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.20-29
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• 2022

The operational modal analysis (OMA) technique, which extracts the modal parameters of a structural system using ambient vibrations, has been actively developed as a field of structural health monitoring of cable-supported bridges. In this paper, the short and long-term modal parameters of a cable-stayed bridge were evaluated using the acceleration data obtained from the two ambient vibration tests (AVTs) and three years of continuous measurements. A total of 27 vertical modes and 1 lateral mode in the range 0.1 ~ 2.5 Hz were extracted from the high-resolution AVTs which were conducted in the 6th and 19th years after its completion. Existing OMA methods such as Peak-Picking (PP), Eigensystem Realization Algorithm with Data Correlation (ERADC), Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) and Time Domain Decomposition (TDD) were applied for modal parameters extraction, and it was confirmed that there was no significant difference between the applied methods. From the correlation analysis between long-term natural frequencies and environmental factors, it was confirmed that temperature change is the dominant factor influencing natural frequency fluctuations. It was revealed that the decreased natural frequencies of the bridge were not due to changes in structural performance and integrity, but to the environmental effects caused by the temperature difference between the two AVTs. In addition, when the TDD technique is applied, the accuracy of extracted mode shapes is improved by adding a proposed algorithm that normalizes the sequence so that the autocorrelations at zero lag equal 1.