Continuous monitoring for performance evaluation of the dynamic response of the School of Engineering Main Building at University of Naples Federico II

Structural health monitoring for civil structures is not only aimed at the assessment of performance under operational conditions or under some particular environmental issues such as earthquakes but also at the detection of sudden or progressive damages. The present paper discusses some aspects related to the structural monitoring system installed on the School of Engineering Main Building at the University of Naples Federico II. In particular, after a brief overview of the system, the solutions adopted for continuous monitoring and extraction of modal parameters of the building are described. They are based on a specific technique of Operational Modal Analysis, called Frequency Domain Decomposition, so the key issues of this technique for identification of the dynamic characteristics of the structures in output only conditions are reviewed. The role of operational modal analysis and of Finite Elements Models in the calibration process of automated systems for dynamic parameters extraction is illustrated. Finally, a synthesis of the main results of continuous modal parameters identification is reported, pointing out the capability of such a system to fulfill design requirements and to assess the building performances.