• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.419-433
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• 2020

Investigation of structural integrity has been a critical issue in the field of civil engineering for years. Visual inspection is one of the most available methods to explore deteriorative components in structures. Still, this method is not applicable to invisible damage of structures. Alternatively, system identification methods are capable of tracking modal properties of structures over time. The deviation of these dynamic properties can serve as indicators to access structural integrity. In this study, a modal tracking technique using frequency-domain system identification from seismic responses of structures is proposed. The method first segments the measured signals into overlapped sequential portions and then establishes multiple Hankel matrices. Each Hankel matrix is then converted to the frequency domain, and a temporal-average frequency-domain Hankel matrix can be calculated. This study also proposes the frequency band selection that can divide the frequency-domain Hankel matrix into several portions in accordance with referenced natural frequencies. Once these referenced natural frequencies are unavailable, the first few right singular vectors by the singular value decomposition can offer these references. Finally, the frequency-domain stochastic subspace identification tracks the natural frequencies and mode shapes of structures through quick stabilization diagrams. To evaluate performance of the proposed method, a numerical study is carried out. Moreover, the long-term monitoring strong motion records at a specific site are exploited to assess the tracking performance. As seen in results, the proposed method is capable of tracking modal properties through seismic responses of structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.6
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• pp.771-783
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• 2022

Structural damage identification (SDI) methods have been proposed to monitor the safety of structures. However, the traditional SDI methods using modal parameters, such as natural frequencies and mode shapes, are not sensitive enough to structural damage. To tackle this problem, this paper proposes a new SDI method based on transmissibility assurance criterion (TAC) and weighted Schatten-p norm regularization. Firstly, the transmissibility function (TF) has been proved a useful damage index, which can effectively detect structural damage under unknown excitations. Inspired by the modal assurance criterion (MAC), TF and MAC are combined to construct a new damage index, so called as TAC, which is introduced into the objective function together with modal parameters. In addition, the weighted Schatten-p norm regularization method is adopted to improve the ill-posedness of the SDI inverse problem. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, some numerical simulations and experimental studies in laboratory are carried out. The results show that the proposed method has a high SDI accuracy, especially for weak damages of structures, it can precisely achieve damage locations and quantifications with a good robustness.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.81-97
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• 2015

Recently, a new output-only modal identification method based on time-frequency independent component analysis (ICA) has been developed by the authors and shown to be useful for even highly-damped structures. In many cases, it is of interest to identify the complex modes of structures with non-proportional damping. This study extends the time-frequency ICA based method to a complex ICA formulation for output-only modal identification of non-proportionally-damped structures. The connection is established between complex ICA model and the complex-valued modal expansion with sparse time-frequency representation, thereby blindly separating the measured structural responses into the complex mode matrix and complex-valued modal responses. Numerical simulation on a non-proportionally-damped system, laboratory experiment on a highly-damped three-story frame, and a real-world highly-damped base-isolated structure identification example demonstrate the capability of the time-frequency complex ICA method for identification of structures with complex modes in a straightforward and efficient manner.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.283-290
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• 1999

A practical damage identification scheme for PS concrete bridges via modal testing and system identification (SID) procedures is presented. The potential damage types are classified and the possible approaches which can be implemented into each damage type are designed. Damage identification algorithms are developed on the basis of the SID and modal analysis. The feasibility of the algorithms is verified from experimental tests to detect damage in PS concrete beam structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.4_5
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• pp.393-410
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• 2012

The 610 m high Canton Tower (formerly named Guangzhou New Television Tower) is currently considered as a benchmark problem for structural health monitoring (SHM) of high-rise slender structures. In the benchmark study task I, a set of 24-hour ambient vibration measurement data has been available for the output-only system identification study. In this paper, the vector autoregressive models (ARV) method is adopted in the operational modal analysis (OMA) for this TV tower. The identified natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes are presented and compared with the available results from some other research groups which used different methods, e.g., the data-driven stochastic subspace identification (SSI-DATA) method, the enhanced frequency domain decomposition (EFDD) algorithm, and an improved modal identification method based on NExT-ERA technique. Furthermore, the environmental effects on the estimated modal parameters are also discussed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.61-73
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• 2023

In this article, a novel structural modal parameters identification methodology is developed to determine the natural frequencies and damping ratios of civil structures based on the symplectic geometry mode decomposition (SGMD) approach. The SGMD approach is a new decomposition algorithm that can decompose the complex response signals with better decomposition performance and robustness. The novel method firstly decomposes the measured structural vibration response signals into individual mode components using the SGMD approach. The natural excitation technique (NExT) method is then used to obtain the free vibration response of each individual mode component. Finally, modal natural frequencies and damping ratios are identified using the direct interpolating (DI) method and a curve fitting function. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated based on numerical simulation and field measurement. The structural modal parameters are identified utilizing the simulated non-stationary responses of a frame structure and the field measured non-stationary responses of a supertall building during a typhoon. The results demonstrate that the developed method can identify the natural frequencies and damping ratios of civil structures efficiently and accurately.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.445-454
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• 2020

Structural damage identification (SDI) is a crucial step in structural health monitoring. However, some of the existing SDI methods cannot provide enough identification accuracy and efficiency in practice. A novel whale optimization algorithm (WOA) based method is proposed for SDI by weighting modal data and flexibility assurance criterion in this study. At first, the SDI problem is mathematically converted into a constrained optimization problem. Unlike traditional objective function defined using frequencies and mode shapes, a new objective function on the SDI problem is formulated by weighting both modal data and flexibility assurance criterion. Then, the WOA method, due to its good performance of fast convergence and global searching ability, is adopted to provide an accurate solution to the SDI problem, different predator mechanisms are formulated and their probability thresholds are selected. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is assessed by numerical simulations on a simply-supported beam and a 31-bar truss structures. For the given multiple structural damage conditions under environmental noises, the WOA-based SDI method can effectively locate structural damages and accurately estimate severities of damages. Compared with other optimization methods, such as particle swarm optimization and dragonfly algorithm, the proposed WOA-based method outperforms in accuracy and efficiency, which can provide a more effective and potential tool for the SDI problem.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.237-258
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• 2001

Structural identification via modal analysis in structural mechanics is gaining popularity in recent years, despite conceptual difficulties connected with its use. This paper is devoted to illustrate both the capabilities and the indeterminacy characterizing structural identification problems even in quite simple instances, as well as the cautions that should be accordingly adopted. In particular, we discuss an application of an identification technique of variational type, based on the measurement of eigenfrequencies and mode shapes, to a steel frame with friction joints under various assembling conditions. Experience has suggested, so as to restrict the indeterminacy frequently affecting identification issues, having resort to all the a priori acknowledged information on the system, to the symmetry and presence of structural elements with equal stiffness, to mention one example, and mindfully selecting the parameters to be identified. In addition, considering that the identification techniques have a local character and correspond to the updating of a preliminary model of the structure, it is important that the analytical model on the first attempt should be adequately accurate. Secondly, it has proved determinant to cross the results of the dynamic identification with tests of other typology, for instance, static tests, so as to fully understand the structural behavior and avoid the indeterminacy due to the nonuniqueness of the inverse problem.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1989.04a
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• pp.66-70
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• 1989

Methods for identification of modal properties of linear structures are presented. The extended Kalman filtering technique is empolyed. The state equation is formulated by two different ways, namely by the time domain and frequency domain approaches. Verifications are carried out by using simulated records of ground acceleration and structural response. Then the techniques are applied to the estimation of modal parameters of a scaled model for a 3-story building which is installed on a shaking table.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.389-403
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• 2004

This study presents the structural model modification based on the modal data such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. Preliminary structural model can be obtained using design drawings and field measurement, and therefore the deteriorated stiffness of a structure and the effect of the boundary conditions are difficult to be evaluated in preliminary analysis model, and the preliminary model can be modified using structural response data including static and/or dynamic characteristics. In this study, the structural model is modified based on the structural modal data using genetic algorithm. Modal testing were carried out for Imjin River Bridge and Hangjoo Bridge, the modal properties were estimated using modal identification techniques, and finally the structural models were updated using genetic algorithm. The modified structural model could give us more reliable structural analysis results and therefore those can be used for structural performance evaluation such as load carrying capacity and seismic capacity.