USE OF AMBIENT VIBRATION MEASUREMENTS IN ESTABLISHING THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RC ELEVATED WATER TANKS

Sreenivas Sarma .P, Murali Krishna .N, Chandra Sekaran A.R

Abstract: Reinforced Concrete elevated water tanks are among the most common life line structures that are vulnerable to damage during seismicity . Many earthquakes of even recent times have shown evidence of failure of such structures . While physically , the reasons for the failure of these tanks appear to be the failure of any of their components , inadequate understanding of the dynamic behavior of the tanks is implicitly the cause of such failures . It is in this context that there is a great need to establish the dynamic characteristics of these structures . With the advent of latest technology , it is now possible to measure the ambient vibrations of structures , with precision . This paper presents the developments in the field of ambient vibration measurements of structures , outlines the general use of these measurements to structures and focuses on it’s application to elevated water tanks . Experiences from the experimental program conducted on several RC elevated water tanks in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad , are shared . It is envisaged that the use of ambient vibration measurements of elevated water tanks will go a long way in establishing their dynamic characteristics and in performing their seismic analysis and design with a better comprehension .

Keywords: Ambient vibration measurements, RC elevated water tanks, Dynamic characteristics, Seismic analysis and design

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0413022