Full-Field 3D Displacement Measurement of Suspended Ceiling Systems Under Seismic Loading Using a Consumer-Grade...

Area of Science:

• Structural Engineering
• Seismic Engineering
• Non-structural Components

Background:

• Suspended ceiling systems are highly vulnerable to seismic events, causing significant risks.
• Traditional sensors have limitations in coverage and can affect test dynamics.
• Optical methods are often impractical in shake-table tests due to environmental constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an end-to-end 3D displacement measurement framework for seismic testing of suspended ceilings.
• To overcome limitations of conventional and optical sensing methods in shake-table environments.
• To enable detailed kinematic analysis of ceiling system behavior under seismic loading.

Main Methods:

• Utilized consumer-grade cameras and purpose-built software for motion-based video trimming and calibration.
• Implemented a robust multi-stage image-tracking pipeline for continuous trajectory analysis.
• Employed a parallel processing architecture for efficient data computation.

Main Results:

• Achieved Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) below 3 mm in all spatial directions during full-scale shake-table validation.
• Demonstrated exact peak-frequency agreement in 9 out of 10 test cases.
• Reduced processing time from over 27 hours to under 10 minutes using parallel processing.

Conclusions:

• The developed framework provides a practical and scalable solution for full-field seismic performance assessment of non-structural systems.
• Enabled detailed six-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) rigid-body analysis of panel failure sequences.
• Offers a viable alternative to conventional instrumentation where it is logistically or physically infeasible.