Author(s)

M. Sangirardi, F. Porco, G. Uva & A. Fiore

Abstract

The dynamic behaviour of an existing building is sometimes difficult to predict, particularly when the information available for the specific case study is not as much as would be necessary for a complete description of the structure. Dynamic response to vibration induced by external natural/artificial sources, thanks to the relative ease with which it can be measured and analysed, makes vibration-based assessment an attractive complement to traditional visual inspection and nondestructive evaluation methods. This study moves from an investigation that is being carried out on a building sited in the port area of Bari, Apulia, where excavation and dredging operations are thought to be responsible for a series of damage that could involve structural and non structural elements in the monitored buildings due to vibration induced in the entire surrounding area. Having the chance to measure the real acceleration and displacement at the basement floor and in some other relevant parts of the building, it will be possible to update the finite element model, matching the response of the FE model in a series of combinations of parameters with the real measured dynamic excitation. Many other studies regarding dynamic identification and the usual modern methods make use of ambient-vibration induced by the so-called environmental noise or, otherwise, inducing a dynamic response by artificial sources of vibration. In this research work the source is known in terms of frequency and magnitude and, so, with an adaptive procedure it will be possible to predict the future damage, serviceability loss or, more generally, the performance of the building towards different combinations of static and dynamic loads. Keywords: modal analysis, excavation, vibration, monitoring, numerical modelling.

Keywords

modal analysis, excavation, vibration, monitoring, numerical modelling.