Advanced Video-Based Processing for Low-Cost Damage Assessment of Buildings under Seismic Loading in Shaking Table Tests

This paper explores the potential of a low-cost, advanced video-based technique for the assessment of structural damage to buildings caused by seismic loading. A low-cost, high-speed video camera was utilized for the motion magnification processing of footage of a two-story reinforced-concrete frame building subjected to shaking table tests. The damage after seismic loading was estimated by analyzing the dynamic behavior (i.e., modal parameters) and the structural deformations of the building in magnified videos. The results using the motion magnification procedure were compared for validation of the method of the damage assessment obtained through analyses of conventional accelerometric sensors and high-precision optical markers tracked using a passive 3D motion capture system. In addition, 3D laser scanning to obtain an accurate survey of the building geometry before and after the seismic tests was carried out. In particular, accelerometric recordings were also processed and analyzed using several stationary and nonstationary signal processing techniques with the aim of analyzing the linear behavior of the undamaged structure and the nonlinear structural behavior during damaging shaking table tests. The proposed procedure based on the analysis of magnified videos provided an accurate estimate of the main modal frequency and the damage location through the analysis of the modal shapes, which were confirmed using advanced analyses of the accelerometric data. Consequently, the main novelty of the study was the highlighting of a simple procedure with high potential for the extraction and analysis of modal parameters, with a special focus on the analysis of the modal shape’s curvature, which provides accurate information on the location of the damage in a structure, while using a noncontact and low-cost method.