• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.115-132
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• 2015

This paper presents a new method for seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings with reference to their operational limit state. The importance of this kind of evaluation arises from the civil protection necessity that some buildings, considered strategic for seismic emergency management, should retain their functionality also after a destructive earthquake. The method is based on the identification of experimental modal parameters from ambient vibrations measurements. The knowledge of the experimental modes allows to perform a linear spectral analysis computing the maximum structural drifts of the building caused by an assigned earthquake. Operational condition is then evaluated by comparing the maximum building drifts with the reference value assigned by the Italian Technical Code for the operational limit state. The uncertainty about the actual building seismic frequencies, typically significantly lower than the ambient ones, is explicitly taken into account through a probabilistic approach that allows to define for the building the Operational Index together with the Operational Probability Curve. The method is validated with experimental seismic data from a permanently monitored public building: by comparing the probabilistic prediction and the building experimental drifts, resulting from three weak earthquakes, the reliability of the method is confirmed. Finally an application of the method to a strategic building in Italy is presented: all the procedure, from ambient vibrations measurement, to seismic input definition, up to the computation of the Operational Probability Curve is illustrated.

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.56-69
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• 2019

Recent advances in low-power sensors and transmitters are driving the search for standalone power sources that utilize unused ambient energy. These energy harvesters can alleviate the issues related to the installation and maintenance of sensors. Particularly piezoelectric energy harvesters, with the ability to convert ambient mechanical energy into useful electricity, have received significant attention due to their high energy density, low cost and operational stability over wide temperature and pressure conditions. In order to maximize the generated electrical power, the natural frequency of the piezoelectric energy harvester should be matched with the dominant frequency of ambient vibrations. However, piezoelectric energy harvesters typically exhibit a narrow bandwidth, thus, it becomes difficult to operate near resonance under broadband ambient vibration conditions. Therefore, the resonating of energy harvesters is critical to generate maximum output power under ambient vibration conditions. For this, energy harvesters should have broadband natural frequency or actively tunable natural frequency with ambient vibrations. Here, we review the most plausible broadband energy harvesting techniques of the multi-resonance, nonlinearity, and self-resonance tuning. The operation mechanisms and recent representative studies of each technique are introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. In addition, we look into the future research direction for the broadband energy harvester.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.396.1-396
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• 2002

The AVT under traffic-induced vibrations was carried out on Namhae Suspension bridge in Korea. Mode shapes as well as natural frequencies up to the 15th mode were acquired exactly, and the effect of traffic mass and temperature on measured natural frequencies was investigated. The results from the AVT are compared with those from forced vibration test(FVT) and FE analysis. (omitted)

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.367-376
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• 2014

Ambient vibration techniques are nowadays a very popular tool to assess dynamic properties of buildings. Due to its non destructive character, this method is particularly valuable, especially for health monitoring of historical monuments. The present ambient vibration experiment consists on the evaluation of vibration modes of a Medieval tower. Situated in Soncino (close to Cremona, in the Northern Italian region named Lombardia), the tower of 41.5 meters height has been monitored by seismometers located at different points inside the structure. Spectral ratios of the recorded ambient vibrations clearly identify a fundamental mode at about 1 Hz, with a slight difference in the two horizontal components. A second mode is also evidenced at approx 4-5 Hz, with a moderate degree of uncertainty. The records of a ML 4.4 earthquake, occurred during the monitoring period, confirm the information obtained by microtremor analysis. Daily variations of both 1st and 2nd mode were detected: these variations, of an amount up to 2%, seem to be well related with the temperature.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.425-448
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• 2012

In this paper, a new damage detection and quantification method has been presented to perform detection and quantification of structural damage under ambient vibration loadings. To extract modal properties of the structural system under ambient excitation, natural excitation technique (NExT) and eigensystem realization algorithm (ERA) are employed. Sensitivity matrices of the dynamic residual force vector have been derived and used in the parameter subset selection method to identify multiple damaged locations. In the sequel, the steady state genetic algorithm (SSGA) is used to determine quantified levels of the identified damage by minimizing errors in the modal flexibility matrix. In this study, performance of the proposed damage detection and quantification methodology is evaluated using a finite element model of a truss structure with considerations of possible experimental errors and noises. A series of numerical examples with five different damage scenarios including a challengingly small damage level demonstrates that the proposed methodology can efficaciously detect and quantify damage under noisy ambient vibrations.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2021

This study aimed to develop a method for the determination of the damaged story in reinforced concrete (RC) structure with ambient vibrations, based on modified jerk energy methodology. The damage was taken as a localized reduction in the stiffness of the structural member. For loading, random white noise excitation was used, and dynamic responses from the finite element model (FEM) of 4 story RC shear frame were extracted at nodal points. The data thus obtained from the structure was used in the damage detection and localization algorithm. In the structure, two damage configurations have been introduced. In the first configuration, damage to the structure was artificially caused by a local reduction in the modulus of elasticity. In the second configuration, the damage was caused, using the Elcentro1940 and Kashmir2005 earthquakes in real-time history. The damage was successfully detected if the frequency drop was greater than 5% and the mode shape correlation remained less than 0.8. The results of the damage were also compared to the performance criteria developed in the Seismostruct software. It is demonstrated that the proposed algorithm has effectively detected the existence of the damage and can locate the damaged story for multiple damage scenarios in the RC structure.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2015

It is important to accurately predict structural responses to external excitations such as typhoons and earthquakes when designing structures for serviceability. One of the key procedures to predict reliable vibration responses is to evaluate accurate structural dynamic properties using finite element (FE) models, which properly represent the realistic behavior of buildings. In the case of historic masonry buildings, structural damage could also be caused by ambient vibrations or impacts. Therefore, the preservation plans of historic buildings for low-level vibrations or impacts should be provided by analyzing structural damages within serviceability levels. For this purpose, it is required to provide FE model construction and response analysis methods verified with field measurement data. In this research, long-term field measurement was performed for a cathedral and its dynamic properties were evaluated using measured data. Then, the model was calibrated based on the measured dynamic properties and an overall construction method for the masonry cathedral was proposed. Using the measured accelerations, the vibrations of the belfry were analyzed using the calibrated FE model and finally, the FE model for the cathedral was verified by comparing the measured accelerations with the modeled results.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.3 no.1 s.7
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• pp.47-55
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• 2003

This paper is concerned with the dynamic characteristics of buildings, especially with the measurement of the natural frequencies(natural periods) and the damping. Process of ambient vibration and synchronized human excitation tests for natural period and damping are given. Data from measurement on 16 reinforced concrete buildings in Seoul and Seoul national university of technology are given. 16 Low-rise Reinforced concrete buildings are measured for ambient vibration to obtain the vibrations characteristics. The natural periods obtained by ambient vibration measurements are compared with those of forecast model suggested by standards and foreign researchers. The natural periods show a clear dependence on building height. On the other hand, the damping ration scatter under the influence of various factors, for example, building height and natural frequency.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.227-237
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• 2013

Modal testing, widely accepted and applied method for determining the dynamic characteristics of structures for operational conditions, uses known or unknown vibrations in structures. The method's common applications includes estimation of dynamic characteristics and also damage detection and monitoring of structural performance. In this study, the structural identification of concrete arch dams is determined using ambient vibration tests which is one of the modal testing methods. For the purpose, several ambient vibration tests are conducted to an arch dam. Sensitive accelerometers were placed on the different points of the crest and a gallery of the dam, and signals are collected for the process. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique is used for the extraction of natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios. A total of eight natural frequencies are attained by experimentally for each test setup, which ranges between 0-12 Hz. The results obtained from each ambient vibration tests are presented and compared with each other in detail. There is a good agreement between the results for all measurements. However, the theoretical fundamental frequency of Berke Arch Dam is a little different from the experimental.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

The operation of subway trains induces secondary structure-borne vibrations in the nearby underground spaces. The vibration, along with the associated noise, can cause annoyance and adverse physical, physiological, and psychological effects on humans in dense urban environments. Traditional tethered instruments restrict the rapid measurement and assessment on such vibration effect. This paper presents a novel approach for Wireless Smart Sensor (WSS)-based autonomous evaluation system for the subway train-induced vibrations. The system was implemented on a MEMSIC's Imote2 platform, using a SHM-H high-sensitivity accelerometer board stacked on top. A new embedded application VibrationLevelCalculation, which determines the International Organization for Standardization defined weighted acceleration level, was added into the Illinois Structural Health Monitoring Project Service Toolsuite. The system was verified in a large underground space, where a nearby subway station is a good source of ground excitation caused by the running subway trains. Using an on-board processor, each sensor calculated the distribution of vibration levels within the testing zone, and sent the distribution of vibration level by radio to display it on the central server. Also, the raw time-histories and frequency spectrum were retrieved from the WSS leaf nodes. Subsequently, spectral vibration levels in the one-third octave band, characterizing the vibrating influence of different frequency components on human bodies, was also calculated from each sensor node. Experimental validation demonstrates that the proposed system is efficient for autonomously evaluating the subway train-induced ambient vibration of underground spaces, and the system holds the potential of greatly reducing the laboring of dynamic field testing.