Stability evaluation of the existing building based on earthquake monitoring

Abstract

Aging civil engineering structures can be severely damaged by strong earthquakes. Due to the potential risk of seismic damage to structures, there is a growing need for investigative methods to assess the structural integrity and risk of damage. The authors have developed a device that accurately measures vibration data in structures. This device has been installed in the headquarters office building of Chuo Kaihatsu Corporation and used for observations over three years. In this paper, the focus is on analyzing the building's natural frequencies calculated from transfer functions (amplification ratios of building response to input ground motion) using several recorded strong motions from past seismic observations. By observing seismic characteristics such as the building's natural frequencies over an extended period, an assessment of the safety of the office building was conducted based on the results of post-earthquake structural health detection.