System Identification Based on Deconvolution and Cross Correlation: An Application to a 20‐Story Instrumented Building in Anchorage, Alaska

Abstract Deconvolution and cross‐correlation techniques are used for system identification of a 20‐story steel, moment‐resisting frame building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. This regular‐plan midrise structure is instrumented with a 32‐channel accelerometer array at 10 levels. The impulse response functions (IRFs) and correlation functions (CFs) are computed based on waveforms recorded from ambient vibrations and five local and regional earthquakes. The earthquakes occurred from 2005 to 2014 with moment magnitudes between 4.7 and 6.2 over a range of azimuths at epicenter distances of 13.3–183 km. The building’s fundamental frequencies and mode shapes are determined using a complex mode indicator function based on singular value decomposition of multiple reference frequency‐response functions. The traveling waves, identified in IRFs with a virtual source at the roof, and CFs are used to estimate the intrinsic attenuation associated with the fundamental modes and shear‐wave velocity in the building. Although the cross correlation of the waveforms at various levels with the corresponding waveform at the first floor provides more complicated wave propagation than that from the deconvolution with virtual source at the roof, the shear‐wave velocities identified by both techniques are consistent—the largest difference in average values is within 8%. The median shear‐wave velocity from the IRFs of five earthquakes is 191  m/s for the east–west (E‐W), 205  m/s for the north–south (N‐S), and 176  m/s for the torsional responses. The building’s average intrinsic‐damping ratio is estimated to be 3.7% and 3.4% in the 0.2–1 Hz frequency band for the E‐W and N‐S directions, respectively. These results are intended to serve as reference for the undamaged condition of the building, which may be used for tracking changes in structural integrity during and after future earthquakes.