Comfort level identification for irregular multi-storey building

In this article, the system identification approach is being used to identify the vertical frequencies of the top storey in a multi-storey building prefabricated from reinforced concrete in Stockholm. Before building construction, detailed investigation indicated that the building will not be affected by train vibrations from the nearby railway yard. After building completion, disturbing vibrations were observed in the building. Three measurement types, namely, ambient vibration test, forced vibration test on the rails, and forced vibration test, have been performed in order to specify the probable reasons for these vibrations. Five methods of structural identification approach, specifically ARX, ARMAX, BJ, OE, and state-space models, have been implemented for the identification process in this study using the tests' results. All the test types and model structures utilized have identified a concentration in the vertical frequencies within the range of (7.5-12.5) Hz for the 10th floor only, which is close to the frequencies of human body parts. Furthermore, the article condudes that the ARMAX model and the output error model have indicated an excellent performance to predict the mathematical models of vibration's propagation in the building, when compared with other models used from the three types of tests. In addition, the results of the aforementioned system identification methods, implemented for this study, have indicated that there are no other reasons for the disturbing vibrations still observed in the building. Furthermore, the results confirmed the correctness of the previous theoretical and experimental results obtained by different specialists, who stated that the values of floor acceleration are within the acceptable limits, and the probable reason for any disturbance is the resonance between the generated low frequencies and the human body parts' frequencies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.