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Published on: April 13, 2016
Raspberry Shake-Based Rapid Structural Identification of Existing Buildings Subject to Earthquake Ground Motion: The
Ali Güney Özcebe1, Alexandru Tiganescu2, Ekin Ozer3,4
1European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE), 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Raspberry Shake 4D (RS4D) devices can monitor building vibrations during seismic events. This study establishes a baseline for using these low-cost sensors for structural health monitoring (SHM) and detecting future earthquake damage.
Area of Science:
- Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
- Seismology
- Internet of Things (IoT)
Background:
- The Internet of Things (IoT) and low-cost sensors have advanced vibration monitoring systems.
- Raspberry Shake devices form a global seismic network, proving effective for densifying seismograph arrays.
- The utility of Raspberry Shake devices for structural health monitoring (SHM) remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using Raspberry Shake 4D (RS4D) devices for structural health monitoring (SHM).
- To analyze vibration data from RS4D devices installed in existing buildings during seismic events.
- To establish a baseline for tracking changes in building vibration characteristics for future earthquake damage assessment.
Main Methods:
- Deployed 15 Raspberry Shake 4D (RS4D) devices across five multi-storey buildings in Bucharest, Romania.
- Analyzed seismic signal data recorded by RS4D modules during multiple seismic events.
- Applied various modal identification algorithms to interpret the recorded vibration data.
Main Results:
- RS4D modules successfully captured building vibration behavior, even from short-duration, low-amplitude seismic sources.
- Analysis of 15 RS4D device readings from five buildings showed no indication of damage via modal frequency decay.
- The study provides a foundational dataset for future seismic event monitoring and damage assessment.
Conclusions:
- Raspberry Shake 4D (RS4D) devices demonstrate feasibility as instruments for structural health monitoring (SHM).
- This research offers multi-device, multi-testbed, and multi-algorithm evidence supporting the use of RS4D for SHM.
- Further exploration of RS4D modules in earthquake engineering is recommended for assessing their full potential.
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