System identification and damage evaluation of degrading hysteresis of reinforced concrete frames

In this study, signal processing approaches and nonlinear identification are used to measure seismic responses of reinforced concrete (RC) structures using the shaking table test. To analyze structural nonlinearity, an equivalent linear system with time-varying model parameters, singular spectrum analysis to elucidate residual deformation, and wavelet packet transformation analysis to yield the energy distribution among components are adopted to detect the nonlinearity. Then, damage feature extraction is conducted using both the Holder exponent and the Level-1 detail of the discrete wavelet component. Finally, the modified Bouc-Wen hysteretic model and the system identification process are employed to the shaking table test data to evaluate the physical parameters, including the stiffness degradation, the strength deterioration and the pinching hysteresis. Finally, the identified stiffness and strength degradation functions from the test data of RC frames in relation to the degree of ground shaking, damage index and the identified nonlinear features are discussed. Based on the proposed method, both signal-based and model-based identifications, the relationship between the damage occurrence and severity of structural damage can be identified. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.