Structural Health Monitoring of a Five-Story Reinforced Concrete School Building in Preparation for the Upcoming West Valley Fault Movement using USHER Technology

Abstract

Public school buildings are very essential in times of calamities because it serves as one of the evacuation facilities in the Philippines. In preparation for the upcoming movement of west valley fault line that will cause a major destruction of lives and properties in metro manila, this study aims to conduct a structural health monitoring on a five-story school building by the aid of wireless smart sensor and conducting capacity spectrum method. The sensor was installed on the ground floor of the building as stated on the national structural code of the Philippines. In addition to this, the second sensor was installed on the top most floor of the building to record the data experience by the structure itself. After the installation, the actual reading on the ground are 0.00196159g on longitudinal, 0.002137g on transverse, and 0.00206172g on vertical direction. The actual reading on the structure are 0.00221014g on longitudinal, 0.00192106g on transverse, and 0.00214517g on vertical direction. Compare to the 0.3g peak ground acceleration from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology atlas and comparing also the threshold on the structure, it indicates that the building is safe at its current state. 0.3g serves as the threshold on ground while 0.3071g on longitudinal, 0.3725g on transverse, and 0.35g on vertical direction are the threshold on the structure, this serves as an initial guide in helping the building owners and structural engineers to decide if it is needed to conduct further structural assessment on the building.