Low-amplitude White Noise Base Excitation Research Articles

Shake table testing of an elevator system in a full‐scale five‐story building

This paper investigates the seismic performance of a functional traction elevator as part of a full-scale five-story building shake table test program. The test building was subjected to a suite of earthquake input motions of increasing intensity, first while the building was isolated at its base, and subsequently while it was fixed to the shake table platen. In addition, low-amplitude white noise base excitation tests were conducted while the elevator system was placed in three different configurations, namely, by varying the vertical location of its cabin and counterweight, to study the acceleration amplifications of the elevator components due to dynamic excitations. During the earthquake tests, detailed observation of the physical damage and operability of the elevator as well as its measured response are reported. Although the cabin and counterweight sustained large accelerations due to impact during these tests, the use of well-restrained guide shoes demonstrated its effectiveness in preventing the cabin and counterweight from derailment during high-intensity earthquake shaking. However, differential displacements induced by the building imposed undesirable distortion of the elevator components and their surrounding support structure, which caused damage and inoperability of the elevator doors. It is recommended that these aspects be explicitly considered in elevator seismic design.

Finite-Element Model Updating for Assessment of Progressive Damage in a 3-Story Infilled RC Frame

AbstractThis paper presents a study on the identification of progressive damage, using an equivalent linear finite-element model updating strategy, in a masonry infilled RC frame that was tested on a shake table. A two-thirds-scale, 3-story, 2-bay, infilled RC frame was tested on the UCSD–NEES shake table to investigate the seismic performance of this type of construction. The shake table tests induced damage in the structure progressively through scaled historical earthquake records of increasing intensity. Between the earthquake tests and at various levels of damage, low-amplitude white-noise base excitations were applied to the infilled RC frame. In this study, the effective modal parameters of the damaged structure have been identified from the white-noise test data with the assumption that it responded in a quasi-linear manner. Modal identification has been performed using a deterministic-stochastic subspace identification method based on the measured input–output data. A sensitivity-based finite-ele...

System Identification Study of a 7-Story Full-Scale Building Slice Tested on the UCSD-NEES Shake Table

A full-scale 7-story reinforced concrete building slice was tested on the unidirectional University of California–San Diego Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (UCSD-NEES) shake table during the period from October 2005 to January 2006. A rectangular wall acted as the main lateral force resisting system of the building slice. The shake table tests were designed to damage the building progressively through four historical earthquake records. The objective of the seismic tests was to validate a new displacement-based design methodology for reinforced concrete shear wall building structures. At several levels of damage, ambient vibration tests and low-amplitude white noise base excitation tests were applied to the building, which responded as a quasi-linear system with dynamic parameters evolving as a function of structural damage. Six different state-of-the-art system identification algorithms, including three output-only and three input-output methods were used to estimate the modal parameters (natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes) at different damage levels based on the response of the building to ambient as well as white noise base excitations, measured using DC-coupled accelerometers. The modal parameters estimated at various damage levels using different system identification methods are compared to (1) validate/cross-check the modal identification results and study the performance of each of these system identification methods, and to (2) investigate the sensitivity of the identified modal parameters to actual structural damage. For a given damage level, the modal parameters identified using different methods are found to be in good agreement, indicating that these estimated modal parameters are likely to be close to the actual modal parameters of the building specimen.

Damage identification study of a seven-story full-scale building slice tested on the UCSD-NEES shake table

A full-scale seven-story reinforced concrete building section was tested on the UCSD-NEES shake table during the period October 2005–January 2006. The shake table tests were designed to damage the building progressively through four historical earthquake records. At various levels of damage, ambient vibration tests and low-amplitude white noise base excitations with root-mean-square accelerations of 0.03 g and 0.05 g were applied to the building, which responded as a quasi-linear system with parameters evolving as a function of structural damage. Modal parameters (natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes) of the building were identified at different damage levels based on the response of the building to ambient as well as low-amplitude white noise base excitations, measured using DC coupled accelerometers. This paper focuses on damage identification of this building based on changes in identified modal parameters. A sensitivity-based finite element model updating strategy is used to detect, localize and quantify damage at each damage state considered. Three sets of damage identification results are obtained using modal parameters identified based on ambient, 0.03 g, and 0.05 g RMS white noise test data, respectively. The damage identification results obtained in all three cases do not exactly coincide, but they are consistent with the concentration of structural damage observed at the bottom two stories of the building. The difference in the identified damage results is mainly due to the significant difference in the identified modal parameters used in the three cases. The assumption of a quasi-linear dynamic system is progressively violated with increasing level of excitation. Therefore, application of nonlinear FE model updating strategies is recommended in future studies to resolve the errors caused by structural response nonlinearity.