• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.625-648
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• 2015

Modern super-tall buildings are more sensitive to strong winds. The evaluation of wind loads for the design of these buildings is of primary importance. A direct monitoring of wind forces acting on super-tall structures is quite difficult to be realized. Indirect measurements interpreted by inverse techniques are therefore favourable since dynamic response measurements are easier to be carried out. To this end, a Kalman filtering based inverse approach is developed in this study so as to estimate the wind loads on super-tall buildings based on limited structural responses. The optimum solution of Kalman filter gain by solving the Riccati equation is used to update the identification accuracy of external loads. The feasibility of the developed estimation method is investigated through the wind tunnel test of a typical super-tall building by using a Synchronous Multi-Pressure Scanning System. The effects of crucial factors such as the type of wind-induced response, the covariance matrix of noise, errors of structural modal parameters and levels of noise involved in the measurements on the wind load estimations are examined through detailed parametric study. The effects of the number of vibration modes on the identification quality are studied and discussed in detail. The made observations indicate that the proposed inverse approach is an effective tool for predicting the wind loads on super-tall buildings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2017

High-rise buildings are generally sensitive to strong winds. The evaluation of wind loads for the structural design, structural health monitoring (SHM), and vibration control of high-rise buildings is of primary importance. Nevertheless, it is difficult or even infeasible to measure the wind loads on an existing building directly. In this regard, a new inverse method for evaluating wind loads on high-rise buildings is developed in this study based on a discrete-time Kalman filter. The unknown structural responses are identified in conjunction with the wind loads on the basis of limited structural response measurements. The algorithm is applicable for estimating wind loads using different types of wind-induced response. The performance of the method is comprehensively investigated based on wind tunnel testing results of two high-rise buildings with typical external shapes. The stability of the proposed algorithm is evaluated. Furthermore, the effects of crucial factors such as cross-section shapes of building, the wind-induced response type, errors of structural modal parameters, covariance matrix of noise, noise levels in the response measurements and number of vibration modes on the identification accuracy are examined through a detailed parametric study. The research outputs of the proposed study will provide valuable information to enhance our understanding of the effects of wind on high-rise buildings and improve codes of practice.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.537-551
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• 2019

In this paper, a method for analyzing the damping performance of stay cables incorporating magnetorheological (MR) dampers in the passive control mode is developed taking into account the cable sag and inclination, the damper coefficient, stiffness and mass, and the stiffness of damper support. Both numerical and asymptotic solutions are obtained from complex modal analysis. With the asymptotic solution, analytical formulas that evaluate the equivalent damping ratio of the sagged cable-damper system in consideration of all the above parameters are derived. The main thrust of the present study is to develop an general design formula and a universal curve for the optimal design of MR dampers for adjustable passive control of sagged cables. Two sag-affecting coefficients are derived to reflect the effects of cable sag on the maximum attainable damping ratio and the optimal damper coefficient. For the cable configurations commonly used in cable-stayed bridges, the sag-affecting coefficients are directly expressed in terms of the sag-extensibility parameter to facilitate the control design. A case study on adjustable passive vibration control of the longest cable (536 m) on Stonecutters Bridge is carried out to demonstrate the influence of the sag for the damper design, and to figure out the necessity of adjustability of damper coefficients for achieving maximum damping ratio for different vibration modes.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.10-17
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• 2016

This paper presents a laboratory validation of a new approach for Finite Element Model Updating(FEMU) on short-span bridges by combining ambient vibration measurements with static load input-deflection output measurements. The conventional FEMU approach based on modal parameters requires the assumption on the system mass matrix for the eigen-value analysis. The proposed approach doesn't require the assumption and even provides a way to update the mass matrix. The proposed approach consists of two steps: 1) updating the stiffness matrix using the static input-deflection output measurements, and 2) updating the mass matrix using a few lower natural frequencies. For a validation of the proposed approach, Young's modulus of the laboratory model was updated by the proposed approach and compared with the value obtained from strain-stress tests in a Universal Testing Machine. Result of the conventional FEMU was also compared with the result of the proposed approach. It was found that proposed approach successfully estimated the Young's modulus and the mass density reasonably while the conventional FEMU showed a large error when used with higher-modes. In addition, the FE modeling error was discussed.