The Bridge House is a steel building structure located in Poly Canyon, a rural area inside the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Bridge House is a one story steel structure supported on 4 concrete piers with a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) composed of ordinary moment frames in the N-S direction and braced frames in the E-W direction and vertically supported by a pair of trusses. The dynamic response of the Bridge House was investigated by means of system identification through ambient and forced vibration testing. Interesting findings such as diaphragm flexibility, foundation flexibility and frequency shifts due to thermal effects were all found throughout the mode shape mapping process. Nine apparent mode shapes were experimentally identified, N-S and E-W translational, rotational and 6 vertical modes. A computational model was also created and refined through correlation with the modal parameters obtained through FVTs. When compared to the experimental results, the computational model estimated the experimentally determined building period within 8% and 10% for both N-S and E-W translational modes and within 10% for 4 of the vertical modes.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Bridge House is a steel building structure located in Poly Canyon, a rural area inside the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Bridge House is a one story steel structure supported on 4 concrete piers with a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) composed of ordinary moment frames in the N-S direction and braced frames in the E-W direction and vertically supported by a pair of trusses. The dynamic response of the Bridge House was investigated by means of system identification through ambient and forced vibration testing. Interesting findings such as diaphragm flexibility, foundation flexibility and frequency shifts due to thermal effects were all found throughout the mode shape mapping process. Nine apparent mode shapes were experimentally identified, N-S and E-W translational, rotational and 6 vertical modes. A computational model was also created and refined through correlation with the modal parameters obtained through FVTs. When compared to the experimental results, the computational model estimated the experimentally determined building period within 8% and 10% for both N-S and E-W translational modes and within 10% for 4 of the vertical modes.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ramos, Pablo D, Jr."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Architecture - Architectural Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Architecture","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Graham Archer, Cole McDaniel, John Lawson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:29Z","subjects":["Ambient and Forced Vibration","Flexible and Semi Rigid Diaphragm","The Bridge House","Mode Shape Mapping","Verification of Analytical Modelling Through Experimental Testing","Changes in Structural Dynamic Properties Due to Thermal Loading","Structural Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2013.17"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2013.17","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2013.17","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/944","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Graham Archer, Cole McDaniel, John Lawson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ramos, Pablo D, Jr."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-06-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Architecture"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Architecture - Architectural Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ambient and Forced Vibration","Flexible and Semi Rigid Diaphragm","The Bridge House","Mode Shape Mapping","Verification of Analytical Modelling Through Experimental Testing","Changes in Structural Dynamic Properties Due to Thermal Loading","Structural Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/944","10.15368/theses.2013.17"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Bridge House is a steel building structure located in Poly Canyon, a rural area inside the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Bridge House is a one story steel structure supported on 4 concrete piers with a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) composed of ordinary moment frames in the N-S direction and braced frames in the E-W direction and vertically supported by a pair of trusses. The dynamic response of the Bridge House was investigated by means of system identification through ambient and forced vibration testing. Interesting findings such as diaphragm flexibility, foundation flexibility and frequency shifts due to thermal effects were all found throughout the mode shape mapping process. Nine apparent mode shapes were experimentally identified, N-S and E-W translational, rotational and 6 vertical modes. A computational model was also created and refined through correlation with the modal parameters obtained through FVTs. When compared to the experimental results, the computational model estimated the experimentally determined building period within 8% and 10% for both N-S and E-W translational modes and within 10% for 4 of the vertical modes.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["System Identification of a Bridge-Type Building Structure"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Graham Archer, Cole McDaniel, John Lawson"],"dc:creator":["Ramos, Pablo D, Jr."],"dc:date.available":["2013-06-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Bridge House is a steel building structure located in Poly Canyon, a rural area inside the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Bridge House is a one story steel structure supported on 4 concrete piers with a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) composed of ordinary moment frames in the N-S direction and braced frames in the E-W direction and vertically supported by a pair of trusses. The dynamic response of the Bridge House was investigated by means of system identification through ambient and forced vibration testing. Interesting findings such as diaphragm flexibility, foundation flexibility and frequency shifts due to thermal effects were all found throughout the mode shape mapping process. Nine apparent mode shapes were experimentally identified, N-S and E-W translational, rotational and 6 vertical modes. A computational model was also created and refined through correlation with the modal parameters obtained through FVTs. When compared to the experimental results, the computational model estimated the experimentally determined building period within 8% and 10% for both N-S and E-W translational modes and within 10% for 4 of the vertical modes.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/944","10.15368/theses.2013.17"],"dc:subject":["Ambient and Forced Vibration","Flexible and Semi Rigid Diaphragm","The Bridge House","Mode Shape Mapping","Verification of Analytical Modelling Through Experimental Testing","Changes in Structural Dynamic Properties Due to Thermal Loading","Structural Engineering"],"dc:title":["System Identification of a Bridge-Type Building Structure"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Architecture"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Architecture - Architectural Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:29Z"}