• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1215-1232
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• 2015

In the present paper, a method for identifying damage in a multi storeyed shear building structure is presented using minimum number of modal parameters of the structure. A damage at any level of the structure may lead to a major failure if the damage is not attended at appropriate time. Hence an early detection of damage is essential. The proposed identification methodology requires experimentally determined sparse modal data of any particular mode as input to detect the location and extent of damage in the structure. Here, the first natural frequency and corresponding partial mode shape values are used as input to the model and results are compared by changing the sensor placement locations at different floors to conclude the best location of sensors for accurate damage identification. Initially experimental data are simulated numerically by solving eigen value problem of the damaged structure with inclusion of random noise on the vibration characteristics. Reliability of the procedure has been demonstrated through a few examples of multi storeyed shear structure with different damage scenarios and various noise levels. Validation of the methodology has also been done using dynamic data obtained through experiment conducted on a laboratory scale steel structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.935-956
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• 2015

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of steel towers has become a hot research topic. From the literature, it is impractical and impossible to develop a "general" method that can detect all kinds of damages for all types of structures. A practical method should make use of the characteristics of the type of structures and the kind of damages. This paper reports a feasibility study on the use of measured modal parameters for the detection of damaged braces of tower structures following the Bayesian probabilistic approach. A substructure-based structural model-updating scheme, which groups different parts of the target structure systematically and is specially designed for tower structures, is developed to identify the stiffness distributions of the target structure under the undamaged and possibly damaged conditions. By comparing the identified stiffness distributions, the damage locations and the corresponding damage extents can be detected. By following the Bayesian theory, the probability model of the uncertain parameters is derived. The most probable model of the steel tower can be obtained by maximizing the probability density function (PDF) of the model parameters. Experimental case studies were employed to verify the proposed method. The contributions of this paper are not only on the proposal of the substructure-based Bayesian model updating method but also on the verification of the proposed methodology through measured data from a scale model of transmission tower under laboratory conditions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2024

Rotating beams play a crucial role in representing complex mechanical components that are prevalent in vital sectors like energy and transportation industries. These components are susceptible to the initiation and propagation of cracks, posing a substantial risk to their structural integrity. This study presents a two-stage methodology for detecting the location and estimating the size of an open-edge transverse crack in a rotating Euler-Bernoulli beam with a uniform cross-section. Understanding the dynamic behavior of beams is vital for the effective design and evaluation of their operational performance. In this regard, modal parameters such as natural frequencies and eigenmodes are frequently employed to detect and identify damages in mechanical components. In this instance, the Frobenius method has been employed to determine the first two natural frequencies and corresponding eigenmodes associated with flapwise bending vibration. These calculations have been performed by solving the governing differential equation that describes the motion of the beam. Various parameters have been considered, such as rotational speed, beam slenderness, hub radius, and crack size and location. The effect of the crack has been replaced by a rotational spring whose stiffness represents the increase in local flexibility as a result of the damage presence. In the initial phase of the proposed methodology, a damage index utilizing the slope of the beam's eigenmode has been employed to estimate the location of the crack. After detecting the presence of damage, the size of the crack is determined using a Genetic Algorithm optimization technique. The ultimate goal of the proposed methodology is to enable the development of more suitable and reliable maintenance plans.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-101
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• 2005

This paper summarizes the application of a rational methodology for the structural assessment of older reinforced concrete Tunisian bridges. This methodology is based on ambient vibration measurement of the bridge, identification of the structure's modal signature and finite element model updating. The selected case study is the Boujnah bridge of the Tunis-Msaken Highway. This bridge is made of a continuous four-span simply supported reinforced concrete slab without girders resting on elastomeric bearings at each support. Ambient vibration tests were conducted on the bridge using a data acquisition system with nine force-balance accelerometers placed at selected locations of the bridge. The Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique was applied to extract the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The finite element model was updated in order to obtain a reasonable correlation between experimental and numerical modal properties. For the model updating part of the study, the parameters selected for the updating process include the concrete modulus of elasticity, the elastic bearing stiffness and the foundation spring stiffnesses. The primary objective of the paper is to demonstrate the use of the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique combined with model updating to provide data that could be used to assess the structural condition of the selected bridge. The application of the proposed methodology led to a relatively faithful linear elastic model of the bridge in its present condition.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.4_5
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• pp.331-351
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• 2012

In this study an output-only system identification technique for civil structures under ambient vibrations is carried out, mainly focused on using the Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) based algorithms. A newly developed signal processing technique, called Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA), capable to smooth a noisy signal, is adopted for preprocessing the measurement data. An SSA-based SSI algorithm with the aim of finding accurate and true modal parameters is developed through stabilization diagram which is constructed by plotting the identified system poles with increasing the size of data matrix. First, comparative study between different approaches, with and without using SSA to pre-process the data, on determining the model order and selecting the true system poles is examined in this study through numerical simulation. Finally, application of the proposed system identification task to the real large scale structure: Canton Tower, a benchmark problem for structural health monitoring of high-rise slender structures, using SSA-based SSI algorithm is carried out to extract the dynamic characteristics of the tower from output-only measurements.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2010

This paper presents a prestress-loss monitoring technique for prestressed concrete (PSC) girder structures that uses a vibration-based system identification method. First, the theoretical backgrounds of the prestress-loss monitoring technique and the system identification technique are presented. Second, vibration tests are performed on a lab-scaled PSC girder for which the modal parameter was measured for several prestress-force cases. A numerical modal analysis is performed by using an initial finite element (FE) model from the geometric, material, and boundary conditions of the lab-scaled PSC girder. Third, a vibration-based system identification is performed to update the FE model by identifying structural parameters since the natural frequency of the FE model became identical to the experimental results. Finally, the feasibility of the prestress-loss monitoring technique is evaluated for the PSC girder model by using the experimentally measured natural frequency and numerically identified natural frequency for several prestress-force cases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.1334-1337
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• 2006

System identification is the field of modeling dynamic systems from experimental data. As a modeling technique, we can mention finite element method (FEM). In addition, we are able to measure modal data as the experimental data. The system can be generally categorized into a gray box and black box. In the gray box, we know mathematical model of a system, but we don't know structural parameters exactly, so we need to estimate structural parameters. In the black box, we don't know a system completely, so we need to identify system from nothing. To date, various system identification methods have been developed. Among them, we introduce system realization theory which uses Hankel matrix and Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) that enable us to identify modal parameters from noisy measurement data. Although we obtain noise-free data, however, we are likely to face difficulties in identifying a structure with hidden modes. Hidden modes can be occurred when the input or output position comes to a nodal point. If we change a system using a mode decoupling controller, the hidden modes can be revealed. Because we know the perturbation quantities in a closed loop system with the controller, we can realize an original system by subtracting perturbation quantities from the closed loop system. In this paper, we propose a novel method to identify a structure with hidden modes using the mode decoupling controller and the associated example is given for illustration.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.593-615
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• 2011

This study determines the water length effects on the modal behavior of a prototype arch dam using Operational and Analytical Modal Analyses. Achievement of this purpose involves construction of a prototype arch dam-reservoir-foundation model under laboratory conditions. In the model, reservoir length was taken to be as much as three times the dam height. To determine the experimental dynamic characteristics of the arch dam using Operational Modal Analysis, ambient vibration tests were implemented for empty reservoir and three different reservoir water lengths. In the ambient vibration tests, the dam was vibrated by natural excitations provided from small impact effects and the response signals were measured using sensitive accelerometers. Operational Modal Analysis software process signals collected from the ambient vibration tests, and Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition and Stochastic Subspace Identification techniques estimated modal parameters of the dams. To validate the experimental results, 3D finite element model of the prototype arch dam was modeled by ANSYS software for empty reservoir and three different reservoir water lengths, and dynamic characteristics of each model were determined analytically. At the end of the study, experimentally and analytically identified dynamic characteristics compared to each other. Also, changes on the natural frequencies along to water length are plotted as graphs. Results suggest that reservoir water complicates the modal behavior of the arch dam significantly.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.143-148
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• 1990

The modal parameter estimations of linear multi-degree-of-freedom structural dynamic systems are carried out in time domain. For this purpose, the equation of motion is transformed into the auto regressive and moving average model with auxiliary stochastic input(ARMAX) model. The parameters of the ARMAX model are estimated by using the sequential prediction error method. Then the modal parameters of the system are obtained thereafter. Experimental results are given for a 3-story budding model subject to ground exitations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.843-857
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• 2015

System identification is regarded as the most basic technique for structural health monitoring to evaluate structural integrity. Although many system identification techniques extracting mode information (e.g., mode frequency and mode shape) have been proposed so far, it is also desired to identify physical parameters (e.g., stiffness and damping). As for high-rise buildings subjected to long-period ground motions, system identification for evaluating only the shear stiffness based on a shear model does not seem to be an appropriate solution to the system identification problem due to the influence of overall bending response. In this paper, a system identification algorithm using a shear-bending model developed in the previous paper is revised to identify both shear and bending stiffnesses. In this algorithm, an ARX (Auto-Regressive eXogenous) model corresponding to the transfer function for interstory accelerations is applied for identifying physical parameters. For the experimental verification of the proposed system identification framework, vibration tests for a 3-story steel mini-structure are conducted. The test structure is specifically designed to measure horizontal accelerations including both shear and bending responses. In order to obtain reliable results, system identification theories for two different inputs are investigated; (a) base input motion by a modal shaker, (b) unknown forced input on the top floor.