Stable modal identification for civil structures based on a stochastic subspace algorithm with appropriate selection of time lag parameter

Wu, Wen-Hwa,Wang, Sheng-Wei,Chen, Chien-Chou,Lai, Gwolong Techno-Press 2017 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.4 No.4

Based on the alternative stabilization diagram by varying the time lag parameter in the stochastic subspace identification analysis, this study aims to investigate the measurements from several cases of civil structures for extending the applicability of a recently noticed criterion to ensure stable identification results. Such a criterion demands the time lag parameter to be no less than a critical threshold determined by the ratio of the sampling rate to the fundamental system frequency and is firstly validated for its applications with single measurements from stay cables, bridge decks, and buildings. As for multiple measurements, it is found that the predicted threshold works well for the cases of stay cables and buildings, but makes an evident overestimation for the case of bridge decks. This discrepancy is further explained by the fact that the deck vibrations are induced by multiple excitations independently coming from the passing traffic. The cable vibration signals covering the sensor locations close to both the deck and pylon ends of a cable-stayed bridge provide convincing evidences to testify this important discovery.

Mode identifiability of a cable-stayed bridge under different excitation conditions assessed with an improved algorithm based on stochastic subspace identification

Wen-Hwa Wu,Sheng-Wei Wang,Chien-Chou Chen,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2016 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.17 No.3

Deficient modes that cannot be always identified from different sets of measurement data may exist in the application of operational modal analysis such as the stochastic subspace identification techniques in large-scale civil structures. Based on a recent work using the long-term ambient vibration measurements from an instrumented cable-stayed bridge under different wind excitation conditions, a benchmark problem is launched by taking the same bridge as a test bed to further intensify the exploration of mode identifiability. For systematically assessing this benchmark problem, a recently developed SSI algorithm based on an alternative stabilization diagram and a hierarchical sifting process is extended and applied in this research to investigate several sets of known and blind monitoring data. The evaluation of delicately selected cases clearly distinguishes the effect of traffic excitation on the identifiability of the targeted deficient mode from the effect of wind excitation. An additional upper limit for the vertical acceleration amplitude at deck, mainly induced by the passing traffic, is subsequently suggested to supplement the previously determined lower limit for the wind speed. Careful inspection on the shape vector of the deficient mode under different excitation conditions leads to the postulation that this mode is actually induced by the motion of the central tower. The analysis incorporating the tower measurements solidly verifies this postulation by yielding the prevailing components at the tower locations in the extended mode shape vector. Moreover, it is also confirmed that this mode can be stably identified under all the circumstances with the addition of tower measurements. An important lesson learned from this discovery is that the problem of mode identifiability usually comes from the lack of proper measurements at the right locations.

A novel recursive stochastic subspace identification algorithm with its application in long-term structural health monitoring of office buildings

Wen-Hwa Wu,Jhe-Wei Jhou,Chien-Chou Chen,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2019 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.24 No.4

This study develops a novel recursive algorithm to significantly enhance the computation efficiency of a recently proposed stochastic subspace identification (SSI) methodology based on an alternative stabilization diagram. Exemplified by the measurements taken from the two investigated office buildings, it is first demonstrated that merely one sixth of computation time and one fifth of computer memory are required with the new recursive algorithm. Such a progress would enable the realization of on-line and almost real-time monitoring for these two steel framed structures. This recursive SSI algorithm is further applied to analyze 20 months of monitoring data and comprehensively assess the environmental effects. It is certified that the root-mean-square (RMS) response can be utilized as an excellent index to represent most of the environmental effects and its variation strongly correlates with that of the modal frequency. More detailed examination by comparing the monthly correlation coefficient discloses that larger variations in modal frequency induced by greater RMS responses would typically lead to a higher correlation.

Damage detection of a cable-stayed bridge based on the variation of stay cable forces eliminating environmental temperature effects

Chien-Chou Chen,Wen-Hwa Wu,Chun-Yan Liu,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2016 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.17 No.6

This study aims to establish an effective methodology for the detection of instant damages occurred in cable-stayed bridges with the measurements of cable vibration and structural temperatures. A transfer coefficient for the daily temperature variation and another for the long-term temperature variation are firstly determined to eliminate the environmental temperature effects from the cable force variation. Several thresholds corresponding to different levels of exceedance probability are then obtained to decide four upper criteria and four lower criteria for damage detection. With these criteria, the monitoring data for three stay cables of Ai-Lan Bridge are analyzed and compared to verify the proposed damage detection methodology. The simulated results to consider various damage scenarios unambiguously indicate that the damages with cable force changes larger than +-1.5% can be detected within 12 hours. Even though not exhaustively reflecting the environmental temperature effects on the cable force variation, both the effective temperature and the air temperature can be considered as valid indices to eliminate these effects at high and low monitoring costs.

Elimination of environmental temperature effect from the variation of stay cable force based on simple temperature measurements

Chien-Chou Chen,Wen-Hwa Wu,Chun-Yan Liu,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2017 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.19 No.2

Under the interference of the temperature effect, the alternation of cable force due to damages of a cable-stayed bridge could be difficult to distinguish. Considering the convenience and applicability in engineering practice, simple air or cable temperature measurements are adopted in the current study for the exclusion of temperature effect from the variation of cable force. Using the data collected from Ai-Lan Bridge located in central Taiwan, this work applies the ensemble empirical mode decomposition to process the time histories of cable force, air temperature, and cable temperature. It is evidently observed that the cable force and both types of temperature can all be categorized as the daily variation, long-term variation, and high-frequency noise in the order of decreasing weight. Moreover, the correlation analysis conducted for the decomposed variations of all these three quantities undoubtedly indicates that the daily and long-term variations with different time shifts have to be distinguished for accurately evaluating the temperature effect on the variation of cable force. Finally, consistent results in reducing the range of cable force variation after the elimination of temperature effect confirm the validity and stability of the developed method.

Determination of stay cable force based on effective vibration length accurately estimated from multiple measurements

Chien-Chou Chen,Wen-Hwa Wu,Chin-Hui Huang,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2013 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.11 No.4

Due to its easy operation and wide applicability, the ambient vibration method is commonly adopted to determine the cable force by first identifying the cable frequencies from the vibration signals. With given vibration length and flexural rigidity, an analytical or empirical formula is then used with these cable frequencies to calculate the cable force. It is, however, usually difficult to decide the two required parameters, especially the vibration length due to uncertain boundary constraints. To tackle this problem, a new concept of combining the modal frequencies and mode shape ratios is fully explored in this study for developing an accurate method merely based on ambient vibration measurements. A simply supported beam model with an axial tension is adopted and the effective vibration length of cable is then independently determined based on the mode shape ratios identified from the synchronized measurements. With the effective vibration length obtained and the identified modal frequencies, the cable force and flexural rigidity can then be solved using simple linear regression techniques. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method is extensively verified with demonstrative numerical examples and actual applications to different cable-stayed bridges. Furthermore, several important issues in engineering practice such as the number of sensors and selection of modes are also thoroughly investigated.

Determination of stay cable force based on effective vibration length accurately estimated from multiple measurements

Chen, Chien-Chou,Wu, Wen-Hwa,Huang, Chin-Hui,Lai, Gwolong Techno-Press 2013 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.11 No.4

Due to its easy operation and wide applicability, the ambient vibration method is commonly adopted to determine the cable force by first identifying the cable frequencies from the vibration signals. With given vibration length and flexural rigidity, an analytical or empirical formula is then used with these cable frequencies to calculate the cable force. It is, however, usually difficult to decide the two required parameters, especially the vibration length due to uncertain boundary constraints. To tackle this problem, a new concept of combining the modal frequencies and mode shape ratios is fully explored in this study for developing an accurate method merely based on ambient vibration measurements. A simply supported beam model with an axial tension is adopted and the effective vibration length of cable is then independently determined based on the mode shape ratios identified from the synchronized measurements. With the effective vibration length obtained and the identified modal frequencies, the cable force and flexural rigidity can then be solved using simple linear regression techniques. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method is extensively verified with demonstrative numerical examples and actual applications to different cable-stayed bridges. Furthermore, several important issues in engineering practice such as the number of sensors and selection of modes are also thoroughly investigated.