Monitoring the Modal Properties of an RC School Building during the 2016 Central Italy Seismic Swarm

Abstract

This paper presents results from the dynamic monitoring of a reinforced concrete school building located in Camerino (central Italy) during the seismic swarm following the first main shock of the Central Italy earthquake that occurred in August 2016. After the main shock of August 24th, ambient vibration tests were executed on the building to identify its modal dynamic behavior, which was assumed as benchmark to study changes in the structural response because of the subsequent events. A three-day dynamic monitoring was then performed with the aim of investigating changes in the dynamic behavior of the building subjected to ambient and seismic excitations. A procedure to identify the nonlinear response of the structure subjected to seismic events is presented, starting from an optimization methodology that permits the identification of the structure dynamics within time windows in which the building dynamic behavior can be considered linear time-invariant. Data show the variability of the modal properties, resonance frequencies, and damping ratios of the building, with the earthquake intensity.