Estimation of the Lateral Dynamic Displacement of High-Rise Buildings under Wind Load Based on Fusion of a Remote Sensing Vibrometer and an Inclinometer

This paper proposes a novel method to estimate the lateral displacement of high-rise structures under wind loads. The coefficient β(x) is firstly derived, reflecting the relation between the structural lateral dynamic displacement and the inclination angle at the height x of a structure. If the angle is small, it is the ratio between the structural fundamental mode shape and its first-order derivative without influence of external loads. Several dynamic experiments of structures are performed based on a laser remote sensing vibrometer and an inclinometer, which shows that the fundamental mode is dominated in the structural displacement response under different types of excitations. Once the coefficient β(x) is curve-fitted by measuring both the structural lateral dynamic displacement and the inclination angle synchronously, the real-time structural lateral displacement under operational conditions is estimated by multiplying the coefficient β(x) with the inclination angle. The advantage of the proposed method is that the coefficient β(x) can be identified by lateral dynamic displacement measured in high resolution by the remote sensing vibrometer, which is useful to reconstruct the displacement accurately by the inclination angle under operational conditions.