Scalable Structural Modal Identification Using Dynamic Sensor Network Data with STRIDEX

Abstract

AbstractThis article uses the formulation of the structural identification using expectation maximization (STRIDE) algorithm for compatibility with the truncated physical model (TPM) to enable scalable, output‐only modal identification using dynamic sensor network (DSN) data. The DSN data class is an adaptable and efficient technique for storing measurements from a very large number of sensing nodes, which is the case in mobile sensor networks and BIGDATA problems. In this article, the STRIDEX output‐only identification algorithm is proposed for the stochastic TPM to estimate structural modal properties (frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes) directly from DSN data. The spatial information produced by this novel algorithm, called STRIDEX (“X” for extended), is scalable, as demonstrated in a strategy to construct high‐resolution mode shapes from a single DSN data set using a series of independent identification runs. The ability to extract detailed structural system information from DSN data in a computationally scalable framework is a step toward mobile infrastructure informatics in a large urban setting. The performance of the STRIDEX algorithm is demonstrated, using the simulated response of a 5,000 DOF structure, and experimentally, using measurements from two mobile sensor cars, which scanned about 8,000 points on a beam specimen in the laboratory. In the experimental results, a mobile sensor is shown to provide over 120 times more mode shape points than a fixed sensor.