Experimental Campaign for Dynamic Characterization of a Laboratory-Scale Structure

Overview This dataset accompanies the experimental campaign for the dynamic characterization of a laboratory-scale model of a four-story shear-type building. The testing was performed at ETH Zürich under the collaboration of ETH Zürich and Politecnico di Milano. The dataset includes time-series data from impact and random excitation tests conducted using a six-degree-of-freedom hydraulic shaking table (hexapod). The full experimental setup, sensor configurations, testing procedures, and dataset structure are thoroughly documented in the accompanying PDF file: "LabStructure_DynamicTestsOverview_DatasetGuide.pdf" General description of the target structure: the model of a four-story building, approximately 1.2 meters tall with 0.52-meter square floors, is designed to capture lateral dynamic behavior. Location of site: the tests were conducted at the Institute of Structural Engineering (IBK), ETH Zürich, Switzerland. Test phases and measurement systems: Two major testing phases were performed. Impact testing (Experimental Modal Analysis): Excitation eith a modal impact hammer Response measured using 6 uniaxial piezoelectric accelerometers in a roving configuration Sampling rate: 100 Hz Total of 32 tests, each comprising eight consecutive impacts Random Excitation via Hexapod: Tests conducted at low, medium, and high RMS levels Directions: x-axis, y-axis, and combined x-y axis Two structural states tested: baseline (undamaged) and damaged (via bolt loosening) Measurements taken using: 8-channel piezoelectric accelerometers (sampling rate: 500 Hz) Optical tracking system (DMM - Optotrack Certus HD) for displacement (sampling rate: 200 Hz) Three sensor layout configurations used in this phase Damage Scenario: simulated by loosening bolts at nodes 21-25 on the third floor, affecting the structural stiffness and dynamic response. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) motivation: this testbed is used to assess and benchmark vibration-based monitoring methodologies. By introducing a controlled damage state, the dataset supports studies in damage detection and system identification. Structure of the dataset The dataset is provided as a compressed .zip folder and is accompained with a PDF file describing the structure, testing procedure, labeling, nomenclature and reference systems adopted: LabStructure_DynamicTestData.zip - dataset LabStructure_DynamicTestsOverview_DatasetGuide.pdf - accompaining document The dataset is organized into two main parts: Impact Testing Data 32 .mat files corresponding to each test, with sensor labels and pre-scaled acceleration data Metadata provided in .txt files Random Excitation Testing Data Piezoelectric accelerometers: 17 .mat files with acceleration responses and sampling frequencsy DMM Displacement Data: 16 .mat files structured as MATLAB cell arrays with 96 DOFs Metadata files included How to cite this dataset Brambilla, M., Dertimanis, V., Chatzi, E., Chiariotti, P., & Cigada, A. (2025). Experimental Campaign for Dynamic Characterization of a Laboratory-Scale Structure [Dataset]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15516419 Bibtex @dataset{brambilla2025experimental, author = {Brambilla, Matteo and Dertimanis, Vasilis and Chatzi, Eleni and Chiariotti, Paolo and Cigada, Alfredo}, title = {Experimental Campaign for Dynamic Characterization of a Laboratory-Scale Structure}, year = {2025}, publisher = {Zenodo}, doi = {10.5281/zenodo.15516419}, url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15516419}, note = {Dataset}}