Building Drift Estimation Using Acceleration and Strain Measurements

Abstract

Estimating structural displacements is an essential tool in structural engineering. Different methods have been developed to estimate structural displacements either using direct or indirect measurements. One of the common indirect measurements widely used is the acceleration measurement, due to its lower cost and simple instrument attachment to the structures, and it does not require a fixed reference point as most of direct measurements do. This study presents three methods to estimate structural displacement using acceleration and strain measurements. The first method is based on modifying the time-domain finite impulse response (FIR) filter method to estimate displacements using acceleration measurements through a moving time window. This method is verified using measured data from shake table tests on a small-scale structure. The second method converts strain measurements into displacements based on a scaling strategy, in which acceleration measurements and an assumed diagonal mass matrix are used to derive the modal participation mass ratios. The third method, which is the data fusion method, combines the first two. The use and outcome of all three methods are illustrated with numerical results.