Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Improving Student Understanding of Structural Dynamics Using Full-Scale, Real-time Excitation of Buildings

Abstract

Current engineering educational practices often fail to prepare students to use computers effectively. In the field of structural engineering, fresh graduates frequently produce computational models of a building structure that bear little resemblance to reality. Unfortunately, the construction of a computational model is typically one of the first tasks a young engineer is asked to perform. In order to address this issue, the authors are constructing a

confidence in computer results. In the current work, forced vibration tests of the building are performed to obtain both the natural frequencies and the resulting mode shapes. In this paper, the procedure to experimentally determine the mode shapes is described. The student predictions of the building response before and after experiencing the ambient and forced vibration laboratories are then examined. One might think that experimentally determining the mode shapes is a simple task, the reality is quite different. The basic concept is to mildly (below human perception) shake the structure and record the resulting motions in a variety of locations. However the positioning of the shaking and data collection equipment and interpretation of the results must be carefully considered. The results of this experiment were found to be very enlightening for the students; experimental and analytical observation of the mode shapes gave students a much deeper understanding of the structural behavior and the underlying structural dynamics theory.

Introduction

In spite of our best efforts, current engineering educational practices fail to prepare students to use computers effectively. In the field of structural engineering, fresh graduates often produce computational models of a building structure that bear little resemblance to reality. Unfortunately, the construction of a computational model is typically one of the first tasks a young engineer is asked to perform. An understanding of the phenomenon being modeled as well as the limitations of the software is necessary to accurately model the behavior of a building. In order to address this issue, the authors are constructing a series of experimental and

Last year, the authors presented a paper6 comparing student computational modeling before and after a simple ambient vibration test7 Senior undergraduate students in their terminal analysis course were challenged with the task of predicting the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a building on campus using computer software. Their results were then compared to those from an ambient vibration test. The students revised their computational models and produced significantly improved estimates of the natura weak correlation with the mode shapes predicted by the faculty.

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

McDaniel, C., & Archer, G. (2010, June), Improving Student Understanding Of Structural Dynamics Using Full Scale, Real Time Excitation Of Buildings Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--15854