Optimal Sensor Placement for Enhanced Efficiency in Structural Health Monitoring of Medium-Rise Buildings

Area of Science:

• Structural Engineering
• Vibration Analysis
• Civil Engineering

Background:

• Output-only modal analysis via ambient vibration testing is crucial for monitoring large civil engineering structures.
• Current methods often require extensive instrumentation, posing time and resource challenges for large-scale projects.
• Existing center-line sensor layouts are economical but often fail to capture complete modal information, particularly torsional modes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an optimized sensor placement strategy for accurate modal analysis of medium-rise buildings.
• To address the limitations of traditional sensor layouts in capturing comprehensive modal data.
• To propose a cost-effective and efficient method for structural health monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Proposed corner-line sensor layouts utilizing a single reference and a roving sensor.
• Conducted parametric studies to determine optimal sensor positions on each floor.
• Validated the proposed methodology through field experiments on two medium-rise buildings.

Main Results:

• Corner-line sensor layouts effectively provide maximum modal information, comparable to 3D topologies.
• Optimal sensor placement was identified at the corner locations of each floor.
• Field experiments confirmed the efficacy of the proposed corner-line strategy.

Conclusions:

• The proposed corner-line sensor layout is an effective and efficient method for output-only modal analysis of medium-rise buildings.
• This approach overcomes the limitations of traditional sensor configurations, especially for capturing torsional modes.
• The validated method offers a practical solution for large-scale structural monitoring and seismic vulnerability assessment.