Ambient and forced vibration testing with numerical identification for RC buildings

Reinforced concrete buildings constitute the majority of the building stock of Turkey and much of them, do not comply the earthquake codes. Recently there is a great tendency for strengthening to heal their earthquake performance. The performance evaluations are usually executed by the numerical investigations performed in computer packages. However, the numerical models are often far from representing the real behaviour of the existing buildings. In this condition, experimental modal analysis fills a gap to correct the numerical models to be used in further analysis. On the other hand, there have been a few dynamic tests performed on the existing reinforced concrete buildings. Especially forced vibration survey is not preferred due to the inherent difficulties, high cost and probable risk of damage. This study applies both ambient and forced vibration surveys to investigate the dynamic properties of a six-story residential building in Istanbul. Mode shapes, modal frequencies and damping ration were determined. Later on numerical analysis with finite element method was performed. Based on the first three modes of the building, a model updating strategy was employed. The study enabled to compare the results of ambient and forced vibration surveys and check the accuracy of the numerical models used for the performance evaluation of the reinforced concrete buildings.