Structural assessment of bridges through ambient noise deconvolution interferometry: application to the lateral dynamic behaviour of a RC multi‑span viaduct

Open access funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Perugia within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) is becoming a mature and widespread technique for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures. Nonetheless, while proved effective for global damage assessment, OMA-based techniques can hardly detect local damage with little effect upon the modal signatures of the system. In this context, recent research studies advocate for the use of wave propagation methods as complementary to OMA to achieve local damage identification capabilities. Specifically, promising results have been reported when applied to building-like structures, although the application of Seismic Interferometry to other structural typologies remains unexplored. In this light, this work proposes for the first time in the literature the use of ambient noise deconvolution interferometry (ANDI) to the structural assessment of long bridge structures. The proposed approach is exemplified with an application case study of a multi-span reinforcedconcrete (RC) viaduct: the Chiaravalle viaduct in Marche Region, Italy. To this aim, ambient vibration tests were performed on February 4 th and 7 th 2020 to evaluate the lateral and longitudinal dynamic behaviour of the viaduct. The recorded ambient accelerations are exploited to identify the modal features and wave propagation properties of the viaduct by OMA and ANDI, respectively. Additionally, a numerical model of the bridge is constructed to interpret the experimentally identified waveforms, and used to illustrate the potentials of ANDI for the identification of local damage in the piers of the bridge. The presented results evidence that ANDI may offer features that are quite sensitive to damage in the bridge substructure, which are often hardly identifiable by OMA.Universita degli Studi di Perugia within the CRUI-CARE Agreemen

Impulse Response of Civil Structures from Ambient Noise Analysis

Increased monitoring of civil structures for response to earthquake motions is fundamental to reducing seismic risk. Seismic monitoring is difficult because typically only a few useful, intermediate to large earthquakes occur per decade near instrumented structures. Here, we demonstrate that the impulse response function (IRF) of a multistory building can be generated from ambient noise. Estimated shear-wave velocity, attenuation values, and resonance frequencies from the IRF agree with previous estimates for the instrumented University of California, Los Angeles, Factor building. The accuracy of the approach is demonstrated by predicting the Factor building’s response to an M 4.2 earthquake. The methodology described here allows for rapid, noninvasive determination of structural parameters from the IRFs within days and could be used for state-of-health monitoring of civil structures (buildings, bridges, etc.) before and/or after major earthquakes

Seismic Microzonation of Great Toronto Area and Influence of Building Resonances on Measured Soil Responses

A pilot seismic microzonation of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is used to establish the conditions and limitations of geophysical methods for site response investigations in city conditions. Maps of fundamental soil resonant frequencies, amplifications at these frequencies and interpolated average shear wave velocity of top 30 m of soil profile (VS- 30) used in soil classification were compared to the maps of drift thickness and surficial geology for the GTA. The non-applicability of the interpolated VS-30 map for site classification between measured test points is indicated. It is also shown that the soil response cannot be estimated properly using VS-30 values only. In order to enhance the capability of the horizontal-to-vertical-spectral-ratio (HVSR) method to resolve the fundamental soil resonances, a procedure and a computer program were developed for separation of ambient vibrations from nearby traffic as well as distant sources using the recorded waveforms before calculating the HVSR. A portable seismic station was developed for field HVSR waveforms recordings. It was also used for identification of building vibration modes. The influence of building vibrations on the HVSR result was investigated considering a benchmark building before construction started and after its completion. This influence is expressed as suppression or split-up of HVSR resonance if the building and soil resonances are close. This effect spreads out to distances comparable to the maximum dimension of the building. The experimentally obtained building resonant frequency at first vibration mode was found to be significantly higher than that calculated using empirical equations proposed by building codes, while the damping factor was less than the prescribed value. Additionally, the concept of using the HVSR inside a building to identify its resonances was examined using recorded waveforms, but the results did not confirm applicability of the HVSR for this purpose. The limitations and initial conditions that are necessary for successful implementation of refracted shear wave seismic profiling (SH-profiling) and multi-channel-analysis-ofsurface- waves (MASW) methods for application in urban areas are discussed. The problems with interlaying low velocity soil layer are pointed out. The soil response functions obtained from the microzonation studies using low intensity seismic sources differ from the response during an earthquake. An approach to estimate the changes of soil response in relation with expected Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) and Intensity of Modified Mercalli Scale (IMM) is proposed. The results were found to be in agreement with strong motion data from the epicentral area of a strong earthquake. It was concluded that the results from seismic microzonation studies should be considered in conjunction with models that simulate the change in dynamic characteristics of soil and buildings during expected earthquake events

Earthquake and ambient vibration monitoring of the steel frame UCLA Factor building

Dynamic property measurements of the moment-resisting steel-frame University of California, Los Angeles, Factor building are being made to assess how forces are distributed over the building. Fourier amplitude spectra have been calculated from several intervals of ambient vibrations, a 24-hour period of strong winds, and from the 28 March 2003 Encino, California (M_L =2.9), the 3 September 2002 Yorba Linda, California (M_L=4.7), and the 3 November 2002 Central Alaska (M_w=7.9) earthquakes. Measurements made from the ambient vibration records show that the first-mode frequency of horizontal vibration is between 0.55 and 0.6 Hz. The second horizontal mode has a frequency between 1.6 and 1.9 Hz. In contrast, the first-mode frequencies measured from earthquake data are about 0.05 to 0.1 Hz lower than those corresponding to ambient vibration recordings indicating softening of the soil-structure system as amplitudes become larger. The frequencies revert to pre-earthquake levels within five minutes of the Yorba Linda earthquake. Shaking due to strong winds that occurred during the Encino earthquake dominates the frequency decrease, which correlates in time with the duration of the strong winds. The first shear wave recorded from the Encino and Yorba Linda earthquakes takes about 0.4 sec to travel up the 17-story building

Detection of Building Damage Using Helmholtz Tomography

High‐rise buildings with dense permanent installations of continuously recording accelerometers offer a unique opportunity to observe temporal and spatial variations in the propagation properties of seismic waves. When precise, floor‐by‐floor measurements of frequency‐dependent travel times can be made, accurate models of material properties (e.g., stiffness or rigidity) can be determined using seismic tomographic imaging techniques. By measuring changes in the material properties, damage to the structure can be detected and localized after shaking events such as earthquakes. Here, seismic Helmholtz tomography is applied to simulated waveform data from a high‐rise building, and its feasibility is demonstrated. A 52‐story dual system building—braced‐frame core surrounded by an outrigger steel moment frame—in downtown Los Angeles is used for the computational basis. It is part of the Community Seismic Network and has a three‐component accelerometer installed on every floor. A finite‐element model of the building based on structural drawings is used for the computation of synthetic seismograms for 60 damage scenarios in which the stiffness of the building is perturbed in different locations across both adjacent and distributed floors and to varying degrees. The dynamic analysis loading function is a Gaussian pulse applied to the lowest level fixed boundary condition, producing a broadband response on all floors. After narrowband filtering the synthetic seismograms and measuring the maximum amplitude, the frequency‐dependent travel times and differential travel times are computed. The travel‐time and amplitude measurements are converted to shear‐wave velocity at each floor via the Helmholtz wave equation whose solutions can be used to track perturbations to wavefronts through densely sampled wavefields. These results provide validation of the method’s application to recorded data from real buildings to detect and locate structural damage using earthquake, explosion, or ambient seismic noise data in near‐real time

Detection of Building Damage Using Helmholtz Tomography

High‐rise buildings with dense permanent installations of continuously recording accelerometers offer a unique opportunity to observe temporal and spatial variations in the propagation properties of seismic waves. When precise, floor‐by‐floor measurements of frequency‐dependent travel times can be made, accurate models of material properties (e.g., stiffness or rigidity) can be determined using seismic tomographic imaging techniques. By measuring changes in the material properties, damage to the structure can be detected and localized after shaking events such as earthquakes. Here, seismic Helmholtz tomography is applied to simulated waveform data from a high‐rise building, and its feasibility is demonstrated. A 52‐story dual system building—braced‐frame core surrounded by an outrigger steel moment frame—in downtown Los Angeles is used for the computational basis. It is part of the Community Seismic Network and has a three‐component accelerometer installed on every floor. A finite‐element model of the building based on structural drawings is used for the computation of synthetic seismograms for 60 damage scenarios in which the stiffness of the building is perturbed in different locations across both adjacent and distributed floors and to varying degrees. The dynamic analysis loading function is a Gaussian pulse applied to the lowest level fixed boundary condition, producing a broadband response on all floors. After narrowband filtering the synthetic seismograms and measuring the maximum amplitude, the frequency‐dependent travel times and differential travel times are computed. The travel‐time and amplitude measurements are converted to shear‐wave velocity at each floor via the Helmholtz wave equation whose solutions can be used to track perturbations to wavefronts through densely sampled wavefields. These results provide validation of the method’s application to recorded data from real buildings to detect and locate structural damage using earthquake, explosion, or ambient seismic noise data in near‐real time