Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of The Canton Tower

Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of the Canton
Tower under Different Earthquakes

H. Li1, J.K. Liu1, W.H. Chen1,2, Z.R. Lu1,*, Y. Xia3 and Y.Q. Ni3
1Department
of Applied Mechanics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Jishi Construction Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
2Guangzhou
(Received: 30 December 2013; Received revised form: 11 July 2014; Accepted: 13 October 2014)
Abstract: This paper presents the experimental modal analysis of the Canton Tower
from the ambient vibration measurements under different earthquake excitation
conditions. Firstly, the time history and Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the
acceleration response under different earthquake excitations have been compared.
Secondly, two output-only modal identification techniques are applied to the field
measurements under earthquake excitations to identify the dynamic properties of the
tower, namely, the Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) and the Subspace
Stochastic Identification (SSI). At last, the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method is
applied to obtain the instantaneous frequencies and energy distribution under different
loadings in the time-frequency domain and the results are compared with those from
wavelet transform. The modal properties of the Canton Tower presented in this paper
can be used as baseline for structural health monitoring and the analysis of dynamic
characteristic of the high-rise structures under different earthquake excitations in
future.
Key words: high-rise structure, ambient measurement, modal identification, time-frequency analysis.
1. INTRODUCTION
Modal parameter identification technique through
dynamic measurement is one of the most popular
research areas in the civil engineering applications. In
the research of civil engineering discipline, the
encountered structures are complex, such as high-rise
structures (Kwok et al. 2011) or large-span bridges (Ni
et al. 2011). Thus, it is necessary that the modal
parameter identification technique should be
compatible and more effective in such complex
structures. Experimental modal parameter identification
of civil engineering structures includes extracting the
modal parameters (natural frequencies, mode shapes
and damping ratios) from measurements. These modal
parameters can be used for the damage identification of
structures, the finite element model updating, long-term
structural health monitoring and structural vibration
control under different severe circumstances like

earthquakes or typhoons.
Generally, the modal parameter identifications can be
conducted based on output measurement time histories
using the frequency response functions in the frequency
domain or impulse response functions in the time
domain. In the past few decades, the modal parameter
identification techniques of civil engineering structures
have been developed rapidly. Because of small
magnitudes of ambient vibration contaminated by noise
without knowing input forces, it needs the use of special
identification techniques through output-only
measurements. There have been several modal
parameter identification techniques based on outputonly data, such as Peak Picking (PP) from the power
spectral densities (Bendat and Piersol 1993), the
Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) algorithm
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: lvzhr@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Advances in Structural Engineering Vol. 18 No. 7 2015
1087
Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of the Canton Tower under Different Earthquakes
1088
Figure 1. The Canton Tower
Accelerometer
direction and
channel label
19.l
20.l
16.
18.l
Data
acquistion
Section 8, z = 446.80 m
17.
Section 7, z = 384.24 m
15.
14.l
Section 6, z = 332.15 m
13.
12.l
09.l11.l
05.l
02.
Y
X
01.l
Section 3, z = 171.10 m
04.l
03.l
Section 4, z = 228.50 m
06.l
Data
transmission
10.
07.l
Section 5, z = 275.30 m
08.l
Synchroniz
ation
based on Peak Picking (Brinckert et al. 2001), natural

excitation technique (NExT) (James et al. 1995) and the
Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) method
(Overschee et al. 1996). A lot of studies have been
carried out to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of a
real building on operation conditions by using modal
parameter identification techniques mentioned above.
The modal parameter identification technique
through ambient vibration measurement has become an
attractive research topic in the area of civil engineering
structures. There are many examples about ambient
vibration measurements that successfully applied to
large scale structures, such as the Republic Plaza in
Singapore (Brownjohn et al. 1998), the Tsing Ma
suspension Bridge in Hong Kong (Xu and Zhu 2000),
the Guangdong International Building in Guangzhou (Li
et al. 2004), the Runyang Cable-stayed Bridge tower in
China (Ding and Li 2008) and four residential buildings
in Hong Kong ranging in height from 130 m to 256 m
(Kwok et al. 2011). However, ambient vibration
measurements for high-rise structure under the
earthquake excitation conditions have not been reported.
The paper aims to evaluate the dynamic
characteristics of the Canton Tower using the different
modal parameter identification methods. The Canton
Tower is a high-rise tube-in-tube structure with a total
height of 600 m, which is sensitive to the wind loads and
the earthquake loads. As shown in Figure 1, this tower
includes the main tower and the steel spatial mast
(antenna), which is 146 m high on the top of main tower.
The main tower is 454 m high, which is comprised of a
reinforced concrete inner tube with an ellipse crosssection of 14 m 17 m and a steel lattice outer tube with
concrete-filled-tube (CFT) columns. The outer tube
uniformly spaced in a varying oval which decreases
from 50 m 80 m at the ground to the minimum of
20.65 m 27.5 m at the height of 280 m (waist level),
and then increases to 41 m 55 m at the top of the main
tower.
During the construction period, a sophisticated longterm structural health monitoring (SHM) system
consisting of more than 800 sensors has been designed
and implemented by a consortium of The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University and Sun Yat-sen University (Ni
et al. 2009) for integrated in-construction and in-service
monitoring of the Canton Tower. Up to the end of May
2009, the construction of the tower has been completed.
Over 800 sensors of 16 types have been installed on the
main tower of 454 m high, and more than 100 sensors
have been finished installing on the antenna mast of
146 m high (including anemometers and accelerometers
located at up to 578 m). As shown in Figure 2, the data
Section 2, z = 119.30 m
Section 1, z = 30.63 m.l
Figure 2. Position of accelerometers and data acquisition system
that used in this paper collected from twenty uni-axial

sensors, which were installed at the eight sections at
different heights of the inner tube. In each section,
horizontal vibration response at two perpendicular
directions will be measured except in the 4th level and
the 8th level, catering for the availability of space and
H. Li, J.K. Liu, W.H. Chen, Z.R. Lu, Y. Xia and Y.Q. Ni
access to the data acquisition units. In the 4th level and

the 8th level, there are four uni-axial accelerometers,
which are two for the long-axis of the inner tube and the
others for the short-axis of the inner tube.
The implemented SHM system has monitored the
structural responses of the Canton Tower since May
2009 under different loading events, including
the Koppu typhoon (September 15th, 2009), the
Molave typhoon (July 18th, 2009), the Hualien
earthquake (December 19th, 2009), the Shenzhen
earthquake (November 19th, 2010) and the Tohoku
earthquake (March 11th, 2011). It is extraordinarily
useful for detecting anomalies in loading and response
and
assessing
structural
integrity,
safety,
serviceability, and reliability from these monitoring
data. The results of modal parameters of Canton
Tower under typhoon loadings have been reported by
Chen et al. (2011). This paper will introduce the
ambient vibration measurement and present the results
of the field vibration measurements under different
seismic loading conditions, including the Hualien
earthquake, the Shenzhen earthquake and the Tohoku
earthquake.
Apart from the modal parameters identified from
different methods using the dynamic measurement data
under several earthquake loading events, the HilbertHuang transform technique is applied for obtaining the
instantaneous frequencies and energy distribution in the
time-frequency domain and the results were compared
with the wavelet scalogram. The significance of this
work is the study of the dynamic behaviour of structure
in full scale for a better analyzes the effectiveness of
identification methods. The results of this study can
provide some useful information for better
understanding the dynamic characteristics of a high-rise
structure under different earthquake events.
2. BRIEF REVIEW OF THE THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
2.1. Modal Parameter Identification Methods
2.1.1. The frequency domain decomposition
(FDD) method
In order to extract the modal parameters of the structure
from ambient vibration data, the Frequency Domain
Decomposition (FDD) (James et al. 1995; Bendat and
Piersol 1986) method was used in this paper. The FDD
method is a rather simple procedure that represents an
improvement of the Peak Picking (PP). Both the PP and
the FDD methods are based on the evaluation of the
spectral matrix in the frequency domain. But the FDD
method is easier to identify each vibration mode
comparing to the traditional PP method.
The first step of the FDD method is to calculate the

power spectral density (PSD) matrices for each data set.
The relationship between the unknown inputs x(t) and
the structural responses data y(t) can be expressed as
G yy ( j ) = H ( j ) Gxx ( j ) H ( j )
(1)
where [Gxx (jw)] is the (r r) PSD matrix of the input, r

is the number of inputs, [Gyy (jw)] is the (m m) PSD
matrix of the responses, m is the number of responses,
[H (jw)] is the (m r) frequency response function
(FRF) matrix, the overbar and superscript T denote the
complex conjugate and transpose, respectively.
The FRF matrix can be written in this form
k kT
T
+ k k
j k
k =1 j k
n
H ( j ) =
(2)
where n is the number of modes, k is frequencies and

also is the pole, k and k are the mode shape vector and
the modal participation vector, respectively. Supposing
the input is white noise, which means its PSD is a
constant matrix ([Gxx (j) = [C]), then Eqn 1 becomes
G yy ( j )
k kT
H
n n j
s sT
s sT
k
+
=
C
k kT
j s j s
k =1 s =1
+
j k
(3)
where superscript H denotes a complex conjugate and

transpose.
The output PSD [Gyy(jw)] is decomposed by taking
the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the matrix
and can be written as
G yy ( j ) = [Ui ][ Si ][Ui ]H
(4)
where [Ui] = [ui1, ui2, ui3, ..., uin], this matrix is a unitary
matrix holding the singular vectors uij, and [Si] is a
diagonal matrix holding the scalar singular values sij. In
spectrum of the PSD function, a peak of this function
corresponds to the structural mode. And this mode or
may be a possible close mode will be dominating. So in
this case, the first singular vector ui1 is an estimate of the
mode shape = ui1 and the corresponding singular value
is the auto PSD function of the corresponding singledegree-of-freedom (SDOF) system. The natural
frequency and the damping can be obtained from the
1089
piece of the SDOF density function, which is obtained

around the peak of the PSD.
2.1.2. The stochastic subspace identification
(SSI)
The Stochastic subspace identification (SSI) algorithm
(Overschee et al. 1996) computes state space models
from given output data and the stochastic input may be
induced by traffic, wind and other stochastic processes.
In the Stochastic Subspace Identification techniques, a
parametric model is fitted directly to the raw times
series data. A parametric model is a mathematical model
with some parameters, and these parameters can be
adjusted to change the way the model fits to the data.
Thus, its important to find a set of parameters which
can minimize the deviation between the predicted
system response and measured system response of the
model.
It is well known that modal identification techniques
in time domain can be formulated in a an innovation
state space formulation as following
{ xt +1 } = [ A]{ xt } + wt
(5)
{ yt } = [C ]{ xt } + vt
(6)
where [A] contains the physical information, [C]

extracts the information that can be observed in the
system response. {xt} is the state vector and {yt} is the
measured output vector. wt and vt are the process noise
and the measurement noise, respectively. Both of them
are assumed to be zero-mean.
The above system (5), (6) is shown in time domain.
Through a complex transformation of the transfer
function using the eigenvectors of [A] they can also be
represented in frequency domain by the modal
decomposed transfer function H (z)
H ( z ) = [ ] [ I ] z j
[] + [I ]
(7)
This representation of the transfer function exposes

all the modal parameters. The eigenvalues of [A] come
in complex conjugate pairs and each pair represents one
physical vibration mode. The second order modes are
uncoupled and the jth eigenvalue of [A] has the form
j = exp j j i j 1 2j t
j =
( )
ln j
(9)
( )
Real ln j
j t
(10)
The jth mode shape vj evaluated at sensor locations can

be obtained using the following expression: j = [C] {j},
where {j} is the complex eigenvector of [A]
corresponding to the eigenvalue j. The mode shape,
which is associated with the jth mode, is given by the jth
column of [].
2.2. Time-Frequency Analysis
2.2.1. The Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT)
It is well known that the Hilbert-Huang transform
(HHT) method is a two-step data-analysis method
(Huang et al. 1998). The HHT is suitable for nonlinear
and non-stationary data analysis. The first step of the
HHT method is that a complicated time history is turned
into a set of narrow band signals called intrinsic mode
functions (IMFs) by the empirical mode decomposition
(EMD). And the second step is performing the Hilbert
transform (HT) to each IMF component (Xu et al.
2003). Once the IMFs are determined, the Hilbert
transform is used to obtain the instantaneous
frequencies. For the jth IMF x(t), its Hilbert transform
can be defined as:
y(t ) =
1
x (u )
P
du
tu
(11)
where P indicates the Cauchy principal value. The

analytic signal z (t) of the jth IMF is
z ( t ) = x ( t ) + iy ( t ) = A ( t )g exp ( i ( t ))
(12)
where i is the imaginary unit, A (t), and (t) are the

instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous phase,
respectively. Therefore, the definition Eqns of A (t),
(t), and (t) are shown below:
A( t ) = x 2 ( t ) + y2 ( t )
(13)
y(t )
( t ) = arc tan
x (t )
(14)
(8)
where j is the natural frequency, j is damping ratio,

and t is the time step. Therefore
1090
j =
(t ) =
d ( t )
dt
(15)
Detailed discussions and justifications are given by

Huang et al. (1998). With this definition of
instantaneous frequency, its value changes from point to
point in time.
2.2.2. The wavelet transform
Among the spectrum of time-frequency analysis
techniques, which are available for processing nonstationary data, the wavelet transform has been received
much attention in recently years. The wavelet analysis
depends on Fourier analysis and could provide local
features in both time and frequency domains (Kurtis and
Ahsan 1998). The wavelet analysis is essentially an
adjustable window Fourier spectral analysis with the
following general definition:
W ( a, b; X , ) = a
1 2
X (t )
* t b
a dt
(16)
where indicates the complex conjugation of the

wavelet function. a is the scale index, which controls the
width of wavelet window. Although time and frequency
do not appear explicitly in the transformed result, the
variable |a|1/2 gives the frequency scale. And W(a, b;
X,) is the transform that decomposes an arbitrary
signal X (t) via basis functions with compact support
that are simply dilations and translations of the mother
wavelet. Thus, the features can be obtained in both time
and frequency domain.
The normalized Morlet mother wavelet function that
is used in this paper is defined as
(t ) = 1 4 ei 2 f0 t e t
where the subscript i is the imaginary unit.
(17)
3. AMBIENT VIBRATION MEASUREMENT

3.1. Brief Description of the Three Earthquakes
The first ambient vibration measurement of the Canton
Tower was during the Hualien earthquake in 19th
December, 2009. It was the 6.8 magnitude undersea
earthquake which was off the coast of Hualien, Taiwan
at a relatively shallow depth of 30 km. And the distance
from Hualien to the Canton Tower is about 860 km.
In 19th November, 2010, the implemented SHM
system has monitored the structural responses of the
Canton Tower when the Shenzhen earthquake occurred.
The Shenzhen earthquake was a 2.8 magnitude
earthquake which occurred in the common boundary of
Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It is about 100 km away
from the Canton Tower.
The 9.0 magnitude undersea mega thrust earthquake
occurred on 11th March, 2011 in the north-western Pacific
Ocean at a relatively shallow depth of 32 km with
epicenter approximately 72 km east of the Oshika
Peninsula of Tohoku. The earthquake was lasting
approximately six minutes. The distance between the
Tohoku and the Canton Tower is approximately 3100 km.
3.2. The Acceleration Response and Data
Analysis
A set of ambient measurement data acquired has been
available
through
the
benchmark
website
(http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/benchmark/) to all
interested participants worldwide. And the details of the
ambient vibration test refer to Xia et al. (2009).
The data that is used in this paper was obtained from
twenty different accelerometers, which are located in 8
different height cross-sections (i.e. 30.63 m, 119.30 m,
171.10 m, 228.50 m, 275.30 m, 332.15 m, 384.24 m and
446.80 m).
Table 1 shows the maximum acceleration responses
monitored by the SHM system at different levels under
different seismic loading conditions. It reveals that there
is no direct relation between the magnitude of
Table 1. The maximum acceleration responses monitored at different levels during different earthquake
Hualien earthquake
Height (m)
30.63
119.30
171.10
228.50
275.30
332.15
384.24
446.80
Shenzhen earthquake
Tohoku earthquake
The short-axis The long-axis The short-axis The long-axis The short-axis The long-axis
(m/s2)
(m/s2)
(m/s2)
(m/s2)
(m/s2)
(m/s2)
0.00335
0.00822
0.00601
0.00485
0.00699
0.01037
0.00665
0.00884
0.00488
0.01056
0.00977
0.00736
0.00963
0.01089
0.00635
0.01023
0.00793
0.00609
0.00495
0.00644
0.00621
0.00688
0.00256
0.00534
0.00533
0.00714
0.00560
0.00566
0.00560
0.00544
0.00484
0.00395
0.00194
0.00299
0.00362
0.00366
0.00463
0.00579
0.00734
0.00902
0.00128
0.00235
0.00188
0.00242
0.00297
0.00461
0.00444
0.00590
1091
earthquake and the acceleration responses of structure

during earthquake period.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the twenty seconds time
histories of acceleration responses at the height of 171.1 m,
332.2 m and 446.8 m respectively during the different
earthquakes. It could be seen that the peak value of
acceleration response under the Hualien earthquake,
which is around 0.006 m/s2, are the maximum among
first two figures, As the magnitude and duration of the
Shenzhen earthquake was much smaller and shorter
than the Hualiens, respectively, the peak value is about
0.004-0.002 m/s2 under the Shenzhen earthquake; and
under the Tohoku earthquake, the peak values are very
different at different height of the Canton Tower, which
the main frequency is about 0.4 Hz.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 show the results of power spectral
density (PSD) of acceleration response at different
height during the different earthquakes. From the PSD
diagrams, we can find that the frequency components in
responses of the Canton Tower were relatively high
frequency vibration during these three earthquakes and
they are different to those frequency components before
and after the earthquakes. Meanwhile, under different
earthquake loading environments, there are different
dominant frequencies in each PSD diagrams. Figure 6
shows that the first two principle frequencies, which are
around 0.8 Hz and 1 Hz, are dominant in the response
data under the Hualien earthquake condition. However,
under the Shenzhen earthquake, the dominant frequency

components lie in 13 Hz. In Figure 8, the dominant
frequency components during the Tohoku earthquake
are 0.4 Hz and 1 Hz and after the earthquake, the
dominant frequency component in the responses is
around 0.1 Hz, which is the fundamental natural
frequency of the tower.
Comparing the results above, one can find that under
different earthquake loadings, the dominant frequency
components in the structural response are different, and
they are relatively higher frequencies. This response
characteristic is different to that under typhoon
excitations (Chen et al. 2011). The dominant frequency
components under typhoon excitations are relatively
low frequencies.
4. MODAL PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION
Experimental modal parameter identification of civil
engineering structures means the extraction of modal
parameters (frequencies, damping ratios and mode
shapes) from dynamic measurements. These modal
parameters will be served as basis or input to the finite
element model updating, detecting and locating the
possible damage in structures, long-term health
monitoring of structures and the safety evaluation of
structures against different severe circumstances like
earthquakes or wind loads. And modal identification has
been widely used in civil engineering (Ni et al. 2012;
Acceleration response (m/s2)
The short-axis of the inner structure direction

At 171.1 m height
The long-axis of the inner structure direction

At 171.1 m height
0.012
0.012
0.006
0.006
0.006
0.012
21:07:15
0.006
0.012
21:07:15
21:07:20
21:07:25
21:07:30
21:07:35
21:07:20
At 332.2 m height
0.012
0.006
0.006
0.006
0.012
21:07:15
0.006
0.012
21:07:15
21:07:25
21:07:30
21:07:35
21:07:20
At 446.8 m height
0.012
0.006
0.006
21:07:20
21:07:25
21:07:30
21:07:35
21:07:25
21:07:30
21:07:35
At 446.8 m height
0.012
0.006
0.012
21:07:15
21:07:30
At 332.2 m height
0.012
21:07:20
21:07:25
0.006
0.012
21:07:35
21:07:15
Time (hh:mm:ss)
21:07:20
21:07:25
21:07:30
21:07:35
Figure 3. Twenty seconds time histories of acceleration response at different height during the Hualien earthquake
1092

At 30.63 m height
0.008
0.004
0.004
0.004
0.004
0.008
14:43:10
At 30.63 m height
0.008
14:43:15
14:43:20
14:43:25
14:43:30
14:43:35
0.008
14:43:10
14:43:15
0.008
0.004
0.004
0.004
0.004
14:43:15
14:43:20
14:43:25
14:43:30
14:43:35
0.008
14:43:10
14:43:15
0.008
0.004
0.004
0.004
0.004
14:43:15
14:43:20
14:43:25
14:43:30
14:43:35
14:43:20
14:43:25
14:43:30
14:43:35
14:43:30
14:43:35
At 446.8 m height
At 446.8 m height
0.008
0.008
14:43:10
14:43:25
At 228.5 m height
At 228.5 m height
0.008
0.008
14:43:10
14:43:20
14:43:30
0.008
14:43:35
14:43:10
Time (hh:mm:ss)
14:43:15
14:43:20
14:43:25
Figure 4. Twenty seconds time histories of acceleration response at different height during the Shenzhen earthquake
Brincker et al. 2000). A comparison of modal parameters

has been made by using different field measurement data
and simulated response data of Canton Tower.
Table 2 shows the identification results of modal
parameters, including frequency and damping ratio,
under the different earthquake (Hualien, Shenzhen and
Tohoku) excitation condition, which are obtained by the
FDD method. It can be found that the natural frequency
differs a little under various earthquake conditions. The
result of Chen et al. (2000) revealed that the high-rise
structure is in safe condition while modes differ under
different conditions, which may be the effects caused by
the environmental factors such as temperature,
humidity. And the effect of environmental factor on the
Canton Tower will be considered in the future research.
From the Hualien earthquake to the Tohoku earthquake,
the natural frequency slightly decreased. Meanwhile,
there are significant differences in damping ratio under
different conditions. This is because the damping
mechanism for the general large-scale structures is too
complicated and thus the damping ratio cannot be
identified accurately. For the synchronized problem of
some data, the measured mode shapes under the

different earthquakes cannot be calculated correctly.
With a full-order FEM of Canton Tower, the modal
frequencies are also calculated, as shown in the last row
of Table 2. And as shown in Table 2, the modal
frequencies in the first few modes obtained by
measurement data and FEM are in good agreement.
However, the discrepancy becomes large for the higher
modes.
And the mode shapes of first few bending and
torsion modes are calculated by using the FEM and
field measurement under the Hualien earthquake, as
shown in Figure 9. The validation of this model is
conducted by comparing the FE modal properties with
the identified modal properties through field
measurement. These two types of mode shapes are in
good agreement basically. However, there is no
accelerometer installed on the antenna. It is impossible
to obtain mode shapes of the antenna through field
measurement as shown in Figure 9.
In Table 3, a comparison of two output-only modal
identification algorithms was made by using the
1093
At 171.1 m height
0.01
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.01
14:10:00
At 171.1 m height
0.01
14:10:05
14:10:10
14:10:15
14:10:20
0.01
14:10:00
14:10:25
14:10:05
At 332.2 m height
0.01
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
14:10:05
14:10:10
14:10:15
14:10:20
0.01
14:10:00
14:10:25
14:10:05
At 446.8 m height
0.01
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
14:10:05
14:10:10
14:10:15
14:10:20
14:10:25
14:10:10
14:10:15
14:10:20
14:10:25
14:10:20
14:10:25
At 446.8 m height
0.01
0.01
14:10:00
14:10:15
At 332.2 m height
0.01
0.01
14:10:00
14:10:10
14:10:20
0.01
14:10:00
14:10:25
14:10:05
14:10:10
14:10:15
Time (hh:mm)
Figure 5. Twenty seconds time histories of acceleration response at different height during the Tohoku earthquake
PSD before the earthquake
1
0.5
Power spectral density (m2/s4/Hz)
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
4
3
2
1
0
PSD during the earthquake

6
104
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
4
2
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
PSD after the earthquake

1
104
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Frequency (Hz)
1.4
1.6
1.8
Figure 6. Power spectral density of acceleration response at

different height during the Hualien earthquake
1094
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
PSD during the earthquake

4
3
2
1
0
106
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

6
4 10
3
2
1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
S-30.63
L-30.63
S-228.5
L-228.5
S-446.8
L-446.8
2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
S-30.63
L-30.63
S-228.5
L-228.5
S-446.8
L-446.8
2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
S-30.63
L-30.63
S-228.5
L-228.5
S-446.8
L-446.8
2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
Frequency (Hz)
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
0.5
1.5
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
104
106

different height during the Shenzhen earthquake
ambient measurement data under Hualien earthquake. It

seems that the natural frequencies provided by the two
independent methods agree well with each other.
Although many studies showed that the SSI method is
1.2
1.4
1.6
PSD during the earthquake (second stage)

2
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
103
1
0
0
1.8
1.6
1.8
Frequency (Hz)

1
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
105
0.5
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Frequency (Hz)

different height during the Tohoku earthquake
more advanced in modal parameters identification of

bridge (Zong et al. 2005; Ren et al. 2005), it still can be
found that this method has some limitations when
processes long-term monitoring data in complex
structures. These limitations include the slowness of its
calculation speed, and the requirement of manual input
to obtain better stabilization diagram under different
excitation conditions.
The identified natural frequencies under ambient
vibration agree with the results of finite element model
in the 1st and 2nd bending vibration modes in Table 3.
But large errors are observed in the higher modes,
especially the torsional vibration modes, between the
FEM and ambient vibration measurement. This may be
attributable to several reasons, including that the
effective mass of the tower is less than that assumed at
the design stage or the effective stiffness of the tower is
higher than that determined at the design stage because
of the contribution of non-structural components. It
shows that modal parameters from ambient vibration
measurement can be used to update the FEM of the
tower, so that a better baseline model of the tower can
0.100
0.144
0.343
0.406
0.427
0.480
0.693
0.854
1.000
1.044
1.428
1.084
0.6529
0.4704
0.7000
0.3325
0.2944
0.7571
0.2847
0.2193
0.0906
0.1342
0.3687
0.4593
0.4974
0.5573
0.5975
0.7995
0.9694
1.216
0.8
1.513
2.658
0.3850
0.3665
0.9958
0.2517
0.3121
0.3813
0.3409
0.2468
0.6
0.0909
0.1377
0.3704
0.4610
0.4977
0.5781
0.5975
0.8006
0.9719
1.218
0.4
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
2.195
2.067
1.612
0.7312
0.6261
0.8289
0.5995
0.4043
0.3281
0.3124
105
3
2
1
0
0.2
0
0.0928
0.1393
0.3640
0.4215
0.4732
0.5068
0.5219
0.7890
0.9596
1.147
PSD during the earthquake (first stage)
1.8
Mode 1
Mode 2
Mode 3
Mode 4
Mode 5
Mode 6
Mode 7
Mode 8
Mode 9
Mode 10
1.6
Frequency
(Hz)
1.4
Damping ratio
(%)
1.2
Frequency
(Hz)
Damping ratio
(%)
0.8
Frequency
(Hz)
0.6
Damping ratio
(%)
0.4
Frequency
(Hz)
0.2
Mode
0
0
Under Earthquake condition

(Tohoku earthquake)
0.5

(Shenzhen earthquake)
Table 2. Frequency and damping ratio under different loading conditions by FDD
S-171.1 m
L-171.1 m
S-332.2 m
L-332.2 m
S-446.8 m
L-446.8 m
105

(Hualien earthquake)
Full-order FEM
(Xia et al. (2009))
1095
(a1) 1st short-axis
(a2) 1st long-axis
Z
x
z
y
(b1) 2nd short-axis
(b2) 2nd long-axis
z
z
z
z
x
y
(c1) 1st torsion
(c2) 2nd torsion
Figure 9. Mode shapes obtained by full-scale FEM and ambient vibration measurement
Table 3. Comparison on natural frequencies from FDD, SSI and FEM under Hualien earthquake
Vibration direction
1st short-axis bending
1st long-axis bending
2nd short-axis bending
2nd long-axis bending
3rd short-axis bending
3rd long-axis bending
1st torsion
2nd torsion
1096
FDD
SSI
Full-order FEM
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
0.0928
0.1393
0.4732
0.5219
0.7890
0.9596
0.5068
1.248
0.0917
0.1356
0.4853
0.5825
0.7898
0.9651
0.5216
1.304
0.100
0.144
0.442
0.480
0.693
0.854
0.427
1.194
be obtained for future health monitoring and damage

detection for the tower. Comparing to Table 3, Table 2
had two more modes e.g., mode 3, mode 4, which
should still be the 2nd bending mode but with different
mode shapes of antenna. However, there is no
acceleration data acquired from the sensor on antenna.
Thus, these two modes cannot be identified from the
field measurement.
5. TIME-FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
In this section, the time-frequency analysis of the
structural responses is further investigated from
Hilbert-Huang transform and wavelet analysis.
Figures 1015 show Hilbert spectrum and Morlet
wavelet scalogram of acceleration responses at 446.8m
height during the three earthquake conditions
respectively. Figures 10, 12 and 14 show the Hilbert
spectrums of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height,
including the short-axis and the long-axis of the inner
103
2
1.8
4.5
1.8
1.6
1.6
1.4
3.5
1.4
1.2
3
2.5
0.6
1.5
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.5
0.2
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
0.8
0.6
300
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
1.2
0.8
103
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
tube during the Hualien, Shenzhen, Tohoku earthquake

respectively. It reveals that the structural response
differs slightly under different earthquake conditions.
By contrasting Hilbert spectrum and Morlet wavelet
scalogram under the same earthquake, one can find that
both of them can describe the energy of the structural
response. It should be pointed out that Hilbert spectrum
can show the instantaneous frequency of the tower,
while Morlet wavelet scalogram can show the energy
distribution of structural vibration. It is because
different from the wavelet scalogram, the HilbertHuang spectrum does not involve the concept of the
frequency resolution and time resolution but represents
the instantaneous frequency.
Figures 10 and 11 show that the dominant frequency
components are mainly 0.8 Hz and 1 Hz under the
Hualien earthquake loading. However, Figures 12 and
13 show that there are many frequencies components
between 1-3Hz in the responses under the Shenzhen
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 10. Hilbert spectrum of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Hualien earthquake (the short-axis and the long-axis of
the inner tube)
10 3
12
1.8
1.6
11
1.6
11
1.4
10
1.4
10
1.2
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
1.8
103
12
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 11. Morlet wavelet scalogram of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Hualien earthquake (the short-axis and the
long-axis of the inner tube)
1097
104
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
1.8
Frequency (Hz)
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
104
1.8
1.6
Frequency (Hz)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
1
0.4
0.2
0
300
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 12. Hilbert spectrum of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Shenzhen earthquake (the short-axis and the long-axis
of the inner tube)
103
4
103
5
4.5
3.5
2.5
2
1.5
1.5
1
1
0
0.5
0.5
0
2.5
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
2.5
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
3.5
3
1.5
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
1
0
0.5
0
300
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 13. Morlet wavelet scalogram of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Shenzhen earthquake (the short-axis and the
104
18
1.8
12
1.2
10
1.6
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
14
1.4
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
0.8
1.2
0.8
1.4
1.2
1.8
16
1.6
103
0.6
0.8
0.4
0.6
0.2
0
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 14. Hilbert spectrum of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Tohoku earthquake (the short-axis and the long-axis of
the inner tube)
1098
103
1.8
1.4
6
1.2
1
0.8
4
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
1.6
103
2
1.8
5.5
1.6
1.4
4.5
1.2
4
3.5
1
0.8
0.6
2.5
0.4
0.2
1.5
50
100 150 200

Time (second)
250
300
Figure 15. Morlet wavelet scalogram of acceleration responses at 446.8 m height during the Tohoku earthquake (the short-axis and the
earthquake loading. And the last two Figures show that

under the Tohoku earthquake the dominant frequency
components of the towers responses are mainly
between 0.3-1Hz. These results and the results of power
spectral density (PSD) are in good agreement. Although
Shenzhen earthquake has the smallest magnitude among
the three earthquakes, it is very close to the tower
comparing to the other two earthquakes and the high
frequency components of the earthquake remains when
seismic waves arrive to the Tower. Thus the high
frequency of the tower can be excited.
6. CONCLUSIONS
This study has presented the dynamic characteristics of
Canton Tower subjected to three different earthquakes.
Making use of the monitored data under different
earthquakes from the SHM system on the Canton
Tower, modal parameters of the tower are identified
from FDD and SSI methods. These field measurements
provided a unique opportunity to obtain the modal
characteristics of the high-rise building from natural
excitation. The time-frequency analysis is conducted for
the measured time histories using Hilbert-Huang
transform and wavelet transform. The following
conclusions are drawn from the dynamic characteristic
analysis of the Tower:
(1) The dominant frequency components during the
earthquakes are approximately 1 Hz. Under the
earthquake excitation, higher modes of the
tower can be excited, but the dominant
frequency components in each earthquake are
different, which is different to that under
typhoon excitations.
(2) The natural frequencies identified by the two
independent methods (FDD and SSI) agree
well in most of first ten modal parameters.
However, the discrepancy of the estimated

damping ratios is relatively larger than that of
the natural frequencies. The main reason for
the difference of identified frequencies
between different methods may lie in the effect
of environmental factors on the dynamical
behavior of the tower, which needs to be
further investigated in future.
(3) The identified natural frequencies under
ambient vibration agree with the results of finite
element model in the 1st and 2nd bending
modes. Large errors of the natural frequencies
are observed in the torsional vibration modes
between the FEM and ambient vibration
measurement. The modal parameters from
ambient vibration measurement can be used to
update the FEM of the tower.
(4) Hilbert spectrum can show the instantaneous
frequency of the Canton Tower clearly. And it
can be observed that under earthquake condition,
responses are concentrated mainly around 1 Hz.
The main frequencies of the tower are relative to
the distance between the earthquake and the
tower rather than the magnitude.
(5) The modal identification results from this study
provide the modal properties of the Canton
Tower during earthquake period, which can be
in the application of the structural health
monitoring and structural damage detection to
the high-rise building under ambient vibration.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (11272361, 11172333), Doctoral
Program Foundation of Ministry of Education of China
(20130171110039), the Guangdong Province Science and
1099
Technology Program (2012A030200011), the Fundamental

Research Funds for the Central Universities(13lgzd06), and
the General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral
Science Foundation (2013M531893). Such financial aids
are gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Bendat, J.S. and Piersol, A.G. (1986). Random Data, Analysis and
Measurement Procedures, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.
Bendat, J.S. and Piersol, A.G. (1993), Engineering Applications of
Correlation and Spectral Analysis. 2nd edition, John Wiley &
Sons, New York, USA.
Brincker, R., Zhang, L. and Andersen, P. (2000). Modal
identification from ambient responses using frequency
domain decomposition, Proceedings of the 18th
International Modal Analysis Conference, San Antonio,
Texas, USA, pp. 625630.
Brincker, R., Zhang, L. and Andersen, P. (2001). Modal identification
of output only systems using frequency domain decomposition,
Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 10, No, 3, pp. 441445.
Brownjohn, J.M.W., Pan, T.C. and Cheong, H.K. (1998). Dynamic
response of Republic Plaza, Singapore, The Structural Engineer,
Vol. 76, No, 11, pp. 221226.
Chen, W.H., Lu, Z.R., Lin, W., Chen, S.H., Ni, Y.Q., Xia, Y. and
Liao, W.Y. (2011). Theoretical and experimental modal analysis
of the Guangzhou New TV Tower, Engineering Structures Vol.
33, No, 12, pp. 36283646.
Ding, Y. and Li, A. (2008). Finite element model updating for the
Runyang Cable-stayed Bridge tower using ambient vibration test
results, Advances in Structural Engineering, Vol. 11, No. 3,
pp. 323335.
Huang, N.E., Shen, Z., Long, S.R., Long, S.R., Wu, M.C., Shih, H.H,
Zheng, Q., Yen, N.C., Tung, C.C. and Liu, H.H. (1998). The
empirical mode decomposition and the Hilbert spectrum for
nonlinear and non-stationary time series analysis, Proc R Soc
Lond Ser A, Vol. 454, No, 1971, pp. 903995.
James III, G.H., Carne, T.G. and Lauffer, J.P. (1995). The natural
excitation technique (NExT) for modal parameter extraction from
operating structures, Int. J. Analytical and Experimental Modal
Analysis, Vol. 10, No, 4, pp. 260277.
1100
Kurtis, G. and Ahsan, K. (1999). Applications of wavelet

transforms in earthquake, wind and ocean engineering,
Engineering Structures, Vol. 21, No, 2, pp. 149167.
Kwok, K.C., Tse, K.T. and Campbell, S. (2011). Field measurements
of dynamic properties of High-Rise buildings, Advances in
Structural Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 6, pp. 11071128.
Li, Q.S., Wua, J.R., Liang, S.G., Xiao, Y.Q. and Wong, C.K. (2004).
Full-scale measurements and numerical evaluation of windinduced vibration of a 63-story reinforced concrete tall building,
Engineering Structures, Vol. 26, No, 12, pp. 17791794.
Ni, Y.Q., Wong, K.Y. and Xia, Y. (2011). Health checks through
landmark bridges to sky-high structures, Advances in Structural
Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 103119.
Ni, Y.Q., Xia, Y., Liao, W.Y., and Ko, J.M. (2009). Technology
innovation in developing the structural health monitoring system
for Guangzhou New TV Tower, Structural Control and Health
Monitoring, Vol. 16, No, 1, pp. 7398.
Ni, Y.Q., Xia, Y., Lin, W., Chen, W.H. and Ko, J.M. (2012). SHM
benchmark for high-rise structures: a reduced-order finite element
model and field measurement data, Smart Structures and
Systems, Vol. 10, No, 4-5, pp. 411426.
Overschee, P.V. and Moor, B.L.D. (1996), Subspace Identification
for Linear Systems: Theory - Implementation - Applications,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands.
Ren, W.X., Peng, X.L. and Lin, Y.Q. (2005). Experimental and
analytical studies on dynamic characteristics of a large span
cable-stayed bridge, Engineering Structures, Vol. 27, No, 4,
pp. 535548.
Xia, Y., Ni, Y.Q., Ko, J.M., Liao, W.Y. and Chen, W.H. (2009).
ANCRiSST benchmark problem on structural health monitoring
of high-rise slender structures Phase I: field vibration
measurement, Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on
Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures Technology,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, pp. 2931.
Xu, Y., Chen, S. and Zhang, R. (2003). Modal identification of Di
Wang Building under Typhoon York using the Hilbert-Huang
transform method, The Structural Design of Tall and Special
Buildings, Vol. 12, No, 1, pp. 2147.
Xu, Y.L. and Zhu, L.D. (2000). Field measurement results of Tsing
Ma suspension Bridge during Typhoon Victor, Structural
Engineering and Mechanics, Vol. 10, No, 6, pp. 545559.

Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of The Canton Tower

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of The Canton Tower

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of the Canton

Tower under Different Earthquakes

of Applied Mechanics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

control under different severe circumstances like

*Corresponding author. E-mail address: lvzhr@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

Advances in Structural Engineering Vol. 18 No. 7 2015