Today we had three classes. The first one was taught by Dr. Yang Wang and he talked about structural dynamics and model updating. It was very interesting to learn about non-proportional damping because proportional damping does not always hold in practice. We also learned how to use an open-source MATLAB package for structural model updating (https://github.com/ywang-structures/Structural-Model-Updating). Dr. Francesco Romeo gave us the second lecture, it was an introduction to system identification and modeling. He talked about basic assumptions for modeling, time and frequency domain, clasifications of systems based on input and ouput and operational modal analysis. We learned about different identification techniques and some applications. The third class was taught by Dr. Eleni Chatzi and it was about Kalman filters and its applications for real-time system identification. As a graduate student with civil engineering background it is good to understand the basics of the Luenberger Observer, the Kalman filter and its applications for damage detection.
At the end of the day we had our first lab. We divided in three groups to do the data acquisition of the pedestrian bridge. There were 6 different channels to capture ambient vibration for 20 minutes on the bridge. The sensors were located in different places and different directions (vertical and horizontal) in order to capture important modes of vibration.
With this information our group needs to identify frequencies and modes of vibration, develop a finite element model to do model updating, and propose a structural health monitoring system. I finally met all the members of my group (No. 4) to discuss work strategies and observe properties of the bridge such as structural system and support conditions. We also had to talk about a very important thing, the name of our group! We are now The Fantastic 4, I could not miss the opportunity.
