Damage identification of a benchmark building for structural health monitoring

An important objective of health monitoring systems for civil infrastructures is to identify the state of the structure and to evaluate its possible damage. Recently, an IASC–ASCE benchmark problem for structural health monitoring has been developed in order to facilitate the comparison of various analysis techniques for the damage identification of structures on a common basis. The technique of Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) has been shown to be a possible system identification method for linear structures. This paper presents the application of HHT to the phase I IASC–ASCE benchmark building for the complete identification of stiffness and damping coefficients. The cases analyzed involve the damage assessment in the weak direction of the benchmark building using 12-DOF and 120-DOF models. In this benchmark problem, the structural parameters, including the stiffness and damping, before and after damage are identified first, and then the location and severity of the damage are assessed by a comparison. The effect of measurement noise has been taken into account. Simulation results demonstrate that the accuracy of the HHT technique presented in identifying the structural parameters is quite plausible, and it represents a possible damage detection technique for linear structures.