• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.390-397
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• 1998

An approach to identifying input forces is proposed using measured structural dynamic responses and its analytical model. The identification of input forces is a reverse process and ill-conditioned problem. Its solution is unstable and generally case dependent. In this paper, the ill-condition is described considering characteristic matrix which is defined by reduced dynamic stiffness matrix. Special attention is focused on the condition number of a characteristic matrix used in the solution algorithm of this reverse process. Simple example is presented in support of the ill-condition of a reverse process.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2006

The paper summarizes the dynamic-based assessment of a reinforced concrete arch bridge, dating back to the 50's. The outlined approach is based on ambient vibration testing, output-only modal identification and updating of the uncertain structural parameters of a finite element model. The Peak Picking and the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition techniques were used to extract the modal parameters from ambient vibration data and a very good agreement in both identified frequencies and mode shapes has been found between the two techniques. In the theoretical study, vibration modes were determined using a 3D Finite Element model of the bridge and the information obtained from the field tests combined with a classic system identification technique provided a linear elastic updated model, accurately fitting the modal parameters of the bridge in its present condition. Hence, the use of output-only modal identification techniques and updating procedures provided a model that could be used to evaluate the overall safety of the tested bridge under the service loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.617-630
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• 2019

Currently most of the vision-based structural identification research focus either on structural input (vehicle location) estimation or on structural output (structural displacement and strain responses) estimation. The structural condition assessment at global level just with the vision-based structural output cannot give a normalized response irrespective of the type and/or load configurations of the vehicles. Combining the vision-based structural input and the structural output from non-contact sensors overcomes the disadvantage given above, while reducing cost, time, labor force including cable wiring work. In conventional traffic monitoring, sometimes traffic closure is essential for bridge structures, which may cause other severe problems such as traffic jams and accidents. In this study, a completely non-contact structural identification system is proposed, and the system mainly targets the identification of bridge unit influence line (UIL) under operational traffic. Both the structural input (vehicle location information) and output (displacement responses) are obtained by only using cameras and computer vision techniques. Multiple cameras are synchronized by audio signal pattern recognition. The proposed system is verified with a laboratory experiment on a scaled bridge model under a small moving truck load and a field application on a footbridge on campus under a moving golf cart load. The UILs are successfully identified in both bridge cases. The pedestrian loads are also estimated with the extracted UIL and the predicted weights of pedestrians are observed to be in acceptable ranges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.247-261
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• 2017

In the field of dynamic measurement and structural damage identification, it is generally known that modal frequencies may be measured with higher accuracy than mode shapes. However, the number of natural frequencies within a measurable range is limited. Accessing additional forms of modal frequencies is thus desirable. The present study is concerned about the extraction of artificial boundary condition (ABC) frequencies from modal testing. The ABC frequencies correspond to the natural frequencies of the structure with a perturbed boundary condition, but they can be extracted from processing the frequency response functions (FRF) measured in a specific configuration from the structure in its existing state without the need of actually altering the physical support condition. This paper presents a comprehensive experimental investigation into the measurability of the ABC frequencies from physical experiments. It covers the testing procedure through modal testing, the data processing and data analysis requirements, and the FRF matrix operations leading to the extraction of the ABC frequencies. Specific sources of measurement errors and their effects on the accuracy of the extracted ABC frequencies are scrutinised. The extracted ABC frequencies are subsequently applied in the damage identification in beams by means of finite element model updating. Results demonstrate that it is possible to extract the first few ABC frequencies from the modal testing for a variety of artificial boundary conditions incorporating one or two virtual pin supports, and the inclusion of ABC frequencies enables the identification of structural damages without the need to involve the mode shape information.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.141-146
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• 2007

It is necessary to guarantee the safety, serviceability and durability of reinforced concrete structures over their service life. However, concrete structures represent a decrease in their durability due to the effects of external environments according to the passage of time, and such degradation in durability can cause structural degradation in materials. In concrete structures, some degradations in durability increase the corrosion of embedded rebars and also decrease the structural performance of materials. Thus, the structural condition assessment of RC materials damaged by corrosion of rebars becomes an important factor that judges needs to apply restoration. In order to detect the damage of reinforced concrete structures, a visual inspection, a nondestructive evaluation method(NDE) and a specific loading test have been employed. However, obscurities for visual inspection and inaccessible members raise difficulty in evaluating structure condition. For these reasons, detection of location and quantification of the damage in structures via structural response have been one of the very important topics in system identification research. The main objective of this project is to develope a methodologies for the damage identification via static responses of the members damaged by durability. Six reinforced concrete beams with variables of corrosion position and corrosion width were fabricated and the damage detections of corroded RC beams were performed by the optimization and the conjugate beam methods using static deflection. In results it is proved that the conjugate beam method could predict the damage of RC members practically.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.631-641
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• 2018

This paper outlines a computational procedure for the effective merging of diverse sensor measurements, displacement and acceleration signals in particular, in order to successfully monitor and simulate the current health condition of civil structures under dynamic loadings. In particular, it investigates a Kalman Filter implementation for the Heterogeneous Data Fusion of displacement and acceleration response signals of a structural system toward dynamic identification purposes. The procedure is perspectively aimed at enhancing extensive remote displacement measurements (commonly affected by high noise), by possibly integrating them with a few standard acceleration measurements (considered instead as noise-free or corrupted by slight noise only). Within the data fusion analysis, a Kalman Filter algorithm is implemented and its effectiveness in improving noise-corrupted displacement measurements is investigated. The performance of the filter is assessed based on the RMS error between the original (noise-free, numerically-determined) displacement signal and the Kalman Filter displacement estimate, and on the structural modal parameters (natural frequencies) that can be extracted from displacement signals, refined through the combined use of displacement and acceleration recordings, through inverse analysis algorithms for output-only modal dynamics identification, based on displacements.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2017

For structural damage detection of shear buildings, this paper proposes a new concept using structural element mass-stiffness vector (SEMV) based on special mass and stiffness distribution characteristics. A corresponding damage identification method is developed combining the SEMV with the cross-model cross-mode (CMCM) model updating algorithm. For a shear building, a model is assumed at the beginning based on the building's distribution characteristics. The model is updated into two models corresponding to the healthy and damaged conditions, respectively, using the CMCM method according to the modal parameters of actual structure identified from the measured acceleration signals. Subsequently, the structural SEMV for each condition can be calculated from the updated model using the corresponding stiffness and mass correction factors, and then is utilized to form a new feature vector in which each element is calculated by dividing one element of SEMV in health condition by the corresponding element of SEMV in damage condition. Thus this vector can be viewed as a damage detection feature for its ability to identify the mass or stiffness variation between the healthy and damaged conditions. Finally, a numerical simulation and the laboratory experimental data from a test-bed structure at the Los Alamos National Laboratory were analyzed to verify the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed method. Both simulated and experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect the presence of structural mass and stiffness variation and to quantify the level of such changes.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-69
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• 2016

Monitoring the performance and estimating the remaining useful life of aging civil infrastructure in the United States has been identified as a major objective in the civil engineering community. Structural health monitoring has emerged as a central tool to fulfill this objective. This paper presents a review of the major structural monitoring programs that have been recently implemented in the United States, focusing on the integrity and performance assessment of large-scale structural systems. Applications where response data from a monitoring program have been used to detect and correct structural deficiencies are highlighted. These applications include (but are not limited to): i) Post-earthquake damage assessment of buildings and bridges; ii) Monitoring of cables vibration in cable-stayed bridges; iii) Evaluation of the effectiveness of technologies for retrofit and seismic protection, such as base isolation systems; and iv) Structural damage assessment of bridges after impact loads resulting from ship collisions. These and many other applications show that a structural health monitoring program is a powerful tool for structural damage and condition assessment, that can be used as part of a comprehensive decision-making process about possible actions that can be undertaken in a large-scale civil infrastructure system after potentially damaging events.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.4
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• pp.445-458
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• 2019

This study mainly aims to assess the performance of soil-structure systems designed by direct displacement-based method coupled with strong column-weak beam design concept through various system identification techniques under strong ground motions. To this end, various system identification methods are employed to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of a structure (i.e., modal frequency, system damping, mode shapes, and plastic hinge formation pattern) under a strong seismic excitation considering soil-structure interaction for different site conditions as specified by ASCE 7-10. The scope of the study narrowed down to the code-complying low- to high-rise steel moment resisting frames with various heights (4, 8, 12, 16-story). The comparison of the result of soil-structure systems with fix-based support condition indicates that the modal frequencies of these systems are highly influenced by the structure heights, specifically for the softer soils. This trend is more significant for higher modes of the system which can considerably dominate the response of structures in which the higher modes have more contribution in dynamic response. Amongst all studied modes of the vibration, the damping ratio estimated for the first mode is relatively the closet to the initial assumed damping ratios. Moreover, it was found that fewer plastic hinges are developed in the structure of soil-structure systems with a softer soil which contradicts the general expectation of higher damageability of such structural systems.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.834-841
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• 2011

Obtaining the real exciting force is important for the analysis of structural vibration or sound radiation to represent the actual condition. But in most cases, it is so difficult to get the actual force signals by direct measurement using sensors due to complex geometry. This paper suggests advanced source identification method which can be applied to the prediction of radiated noise considering correlations between measured signals. This method was implemented to the identification of the fan force in the refrigerator. The analysis of structural vibration and radiated noise caused by the fan force was also performed. The comparison between predicted SPL and measured SPL of the radiated noise by the refrigerator fan showed good agreement.