CE535b: Earthquake Engineering - Prof. Mihailo D. Trifunac.

University of Southern California

April 2004

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IDENTIFICATION

USING DISCRETE AND PACKET WAVELET TRANSFORMS
AN APPLICATION TO THE IMPERIAL COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING
- FINAL PROJECT Ricardo TABORDA

Abstract: A procedure for structural damage identification using the capabilities of wavelet transform
analysis is presented. Wavelet transform concept, its characteristics and properties, including an explanation
of the signal decomposition concept using the discrete and packet wavelet transforms is introduced and
followed by a description of the procedure proposed. A theoretical example is presented in order to highlight
the capabilities of the wavelet analysis for identifying signal singularities as those expected to be recorded
from the occurrence of structural damage. Later on, the procedure proposed is tested by using the records
obtained during the 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake at the Imperial County Services Building. Brief
description of the building and its damage during this event is included. Frequency content of the signals
recorded is analyzed by means of Fourier and normalized energy spectrums, as a classical manner of
understanding how the energy induced by the occurrence of damage may be observed in the records and then
detected by the wavelet analysis. An attempt to understand the propagation of the damage energy along the
building is also performed using the wavelet coefficients associated with damage. Final comments point out
the future possibilities of the proposal and indicate future steps for improving it.
Keywords: Structural damage; System identification; Instrumented buildings.

INTRODUCTION
Several authors have discussed the importance of structural health monitoring and damage detection and
identification. On this matter, the importance of expanding not only the use but the appropriate use of records
from instrumented structures is a duty that those who work on signal processing analysis must be encourage
to do. Problems as correctly identifying frequencies, dampings and modal shapes of instrumented buildings
taking into account such aspects as their change during the passage of earthquakes and the presence of soilstructure interaction effects is an important part of that duty. But next steps must be taken. One of those next
steps is the development of rigorous procedures that consider the whole problem of system identification. Not
assigning all the change in the structure properties to damage in the structure neither to the soil-foundationstructure problem. Thus the improvement of damage detection, identification and assessment techniques
becomes an important aspect to be studied.
Damage detection is the first level of the more general problem of damage identification, which includes
different levels study as classification, severity, location and prediction of the damage as well as estimation of
remaining service life (Kim and Melhem, 2004). On this matter, nondestructive evaluation techniques as both
system identification of modal parameters and classic spectral analysis present limitations. The former
requires a detail instrumentation of the structure to identify the location of the damage, while the later has
known limitations to detect time-dependent characteristics (Sun and Chang, 2002).

Wavelet analysis rises as an extension of frequency-domain transformation of signals which allows

characterizing their time-dependence and identifying and localizing their singularities. These two capabilities
make wavelet analysis a useful tool for the problem of damage identification.
As far as known by the author, the suggestion of using wavelet analysis for damage detection in structures, in
a global point of view (i.e. the structure as a whole), was first presented by Rezai et al. (1994), which
analyzed the records of an instrumented building in the Los Angeles area that was damaged during both the
1971 San Fernando and the 1994 Northridge earthquakes using the Haar wavelet transform.
The suggestion made by Rezai et al. (1994) rests in the idea that occurrence of damage is associated with
presence of high frequency components in the signal, which may be easily detected through the appearance of
high value peaks in the wavelets coefficients. This same idea was later supported by Sone et al. (1995), who
treated the problem as a single degree of freedom that suffered fatigue, because of what the system stiffness
was degraded. Vincent et al. (2000) presented a similar approach for a multi degree of freedom in which the
stiffnesses of the system were suddenly reduced, and compared the results with the empirical mode
decomposition method, and meanwhile, Hou et al. (2000) did it for a single degree of freedom with multiple
paralleled breakable springs.
Another approach understanding the problem as identification of non-linearity, was presented by Kitada
(1998), for both single and multi degree of freedom systems.
At the same time, interest on wavelet analysis for damage identification was focused on the local point of
view (i.e. study of the elements behavior instead of an entire system or structure). This approach resulted on
the work by Wang and Deng (1998), in which wavelet transform is applied to a set of spatially distributed
structural response measurements (spatial wavelets), by means of which the location of damage, represented
as a crack on a simple supported beam, was easily detected. Similar work has been recently presented by
Ovanesova and Surez (2004), who expanded its application for the theoretical example of a simple frame.
The work by Corbin et al. (2000) applies different approaches of those presented above for three cases: 1) a
three degree of freedom system with paralleled breakable springs; 2) the response of a cantilever beam and; 3)
the simulated response of a building. Another relevant application for a continuous simply supported beam
has been presented in the paper by Sun and Chang (2002), in which wavelet and wavelet packet transform are
compared in order to not only detecting but also quantifying the damage, relating it with the energy
represented by the values of wavelet coefficients.
Excellent compilation of a good variety of works like those mentioned above has been done by Kim and
Melhem (2004), and, although all of them are good examples of the capabilities of the wavelet transform and
its potential value to identify singularities on signals as those associated with damage, none of them since that
of Rezai et al. (1994), have tested these capabilities in real data from an instrumented building which had
suffered evident damage.
In this work, the theoretical background on the wavelet transform is briefly studied. Description of the
discrete wavelet and packet wavelet transforms decomposition is presented. Properties of different wavelets
and a selection criterion for selecting the most appropriate wavelet are discussed. The concept of the damage
occurrence and its identification by means of the wavelet decomposition is explained showing a simple
example and a procedure for damage detection is proposed.
Later on, application of this procedure is performed on the signals of the Imperial County Services Building
recorded during the 1971 Imperial Valley Earthquake. First of all, a brief description of the building and its
damage is included, and later followed by a spectral analysis of the records. This first analysis reveals the
presence of high frequency energy content in the signals and serves as a first step before going into the
wavelet analysis, in which both discrete and packet transforms are applied.
Values from wavelet coefficients that are believed to be associated with damage in the building are selected
making possible to detect the occurrence of damage as well as the moment in which it is given. After this, an
attempt for understanding how the energy released by the occurrence of the damage is propagated along the

building is performed using the maximum values of wavelet coefficients around the moments in which the
damage is identified. The work finishes compiling relevant conclusions about the potential of wavelet
decomposition of signals and pointing out future aspects to be considered in order to improve the procedure
presented.

THE WAVELET TRANSFORM

First introduced by mathematicians in the 1930s, wavelet transform concept, as it is known nowadays, was
not formalized until the early 1980s, after what it has become a widely used tool in digital signal and image
processing, numerical analysis, physics and geophysics, mechanics and engineering. Since it is not the
objective of this work to review the history or diversity of applications behind the wavelet transforms theory,
the reader is encouraged to review those works by Kumar and Foufoula-Georgiou (1994), Gurley and Kareem
(1999), Misiti et al. (2000), Kijewski and Kareem (2003) or Todorovska and Hao (2003).
In a simple approach and in according with modern theory, wavelets may be understood as localized waves.
This means that wavelets are constrained signals or wiggles, with zero mean value, which drop to zero after
few oscillations. Wavelets can be real or complex. Those characteristics define wavelets as bases localized in
both time and frequency, making of them a particularly useful tool for analysis of transient signals and timevarying systems.
Wavelet analysis begins from the selection of a prototype wavelet, (), called the mother wavelet. Scaling
(dilating or compressing) and shifting in time of this mother wavelet constitutes a set of basis functions, called
wavelet family, given by the following expression:

a ,b ( t ) =

1
a

t b
,
a

a > 0, b \, t \

(1)

where a and b are the scaling and shifting in time factors, respectively. Then, the continuous wavelet
transform of a signal f(t) is given by:

C f ( a, b ) =

1
a

t b
f ( t ) a dt

(2)

where the bar indicates complex conjugate applied on the scaled and shifted mother wavelet. The numerical
result of the transform of a signal is a set of coefficients that explain how well correlated is the wavelet with
the signal being analyzed.
DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM AND WAVELET DECOMPOSITION

It can be explained that the continuous transformation of the signal in the full domain of Cf(a,b) is highly
redundant, in such a way that, for certain choices of the mother wavelet, it is possible to discreet the scaling
and shifting factors as
a = 2j

b = k2j

(3)

where j and k are integers, without lose of generality. This procedure allows us to define the discrete wavelet
transform as
C j , k = 2 j 2

f ( t ) ( 2

t k ) dt

(4)

If it is supposed that the transform Cf(a,b) is only available for low values of a < a0, then the rest of the
information of the coefficients corresponding to Cf(a,b) for a > a0, must be provided by the introduction of an
scaling function, (t). Therefore, if this limit value a0 is also discreet as it was done before for a and b, and a
reference level J is introduced (level of decomposition), the coefficients corresponding to the transformation
may be broken into:
cDJ ( k ) =

f ( t ) ( t ) dt

(5)

J ,k

cAJ ( k ) =

f ( t ) ( t ) dt

(6)

J ,k

which are known as the detail and approximation coefficients.

Although not presented here explicitly, reconstruction of the original signal from the wavelet transform
coefficients is possible and can be expressed as the sum of all detail reconstruction signals up to the level of
decomposition J, and approximation signal. This analysis is known as the multiresolution analysis. The
process of braking down the signal into detail and approximation coefficients may be understood as low and
high pass filtering it in such a way that the number of samples is reduced n each level of decomposition. This
procedure is clearly illustrated in figure 1, which shows a signal that is decomposed in three levels using the
discrete wavelet transform. Final result of the transformation is composed by the coefficients corresponding
to the shaded areas (i.e. A3, D3, D2 and D1).
It is important to explain that wavelet transform scaling factors are related with the frequency in such a way
that if, for example, the frequency content of the signal is defined from 0 to 50 Hz, then, at the first level of
decomposition, the coefficients A1 have the signal information associated with frequency between 0 and 25
Hz, and the coefficients D1 possess the information belonging to 25 to 50 Hz, and so on for subsequent levels.
N Samples
Decomposition
Level

Original Signal Time-Frequency Domain

S = f(t)

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

A1

D1

1st Level

Decomposition
Filters

N/2 Samples
LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

A2

D2

2nd Level

N/4 Samples

3rd Level

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

A3

D3

N/8 Samples

Figure 1 - Wavelet decomposition scheme for a three levels analysis

WAVELET PACKET TRANSFORM

The packet wavelet transform is a generalization of the wavelet decomposition which offers a wider state of
analysis. While in the method explained before the signal is split into approximation and detail, and the
approximation is again split into a new set of approximation and detail and so on, in the wavelet packet
transform, the remaining detail part of the signal in de second and subsequent levels are also braked down into
an approximation and detail pair. This can be clearly represented by the binary decomposition tree shown in
figure 2.
Wavelet packet coefficients may be expressed as:

C ij , k =

f ( t ) ( t ) dt
i
j ,k

(7)

where i, j and k are the modulation, scale and time shifting parameters of the wavelet packet defined as

ij , k ( t ) = 2 j k i ( 2 j t k ) ,

i = 1, 2,...

(8)

In equation 8, the wavelets i are obtained from the recursive relationships:

2i ( t ) = 2 l ( k ) i ( 2t k )

(9)

k =

2i +1 ( t ) = 2 h ( k ) i ( 2t k )

(10)

k =

for which the first wavelet is the one we called before as the mother wavelet, i.e. when i = 1

1 (t ) = (t )

(11)

Note that expressions 9 and 10 are convolution operations, thus, though in the frequency domain, functions
l(k) and h(k) correspond to lowpass and highpass filters, that are quadrature mirror filters associated with the
scaling and mother wavelet functions.
An important characteristic from these filters in comparison of classic filters is that they subsample the signal.
When one filtered a signal using classic filtering methods, if the input signal is 100 samples then the output
lowpass and highpass signals are also 100 samples, but applying wavelet decomposition the output signals are
two sets of 50 samples each one. This concept is in good agreement with the Heisenbergs principle of
uncertainty, which states that a function cannot be well localized in both time and frequency, therefore one
level of decomposition leads to more knowledge about its frequency content but at the same time reduces the
knowledge about its time localization by subsampling it as shown in figures 1 and 2. Practical application of
this characteristic has been suggested by Todorovska and Hao (2001).
As a final comment on this matter, it should be mentioned that the numerical implementation of discrete and
packet wavelet transforms using decomposition filters is done by means of a set of algorithms called as the
fast wavelet transform.
PROPERTIES AND SELECTION CRITERION

A wide variety of wavelets is available, but not all of them allow one to apply wavelet decomposition and
packet transformation. Since detailed classification and properties description of existing wavelets is out of

N Samples
Decomposition
Level

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

A1

D1

1st Level

Decomposition
Filters

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

AA2

DA2

AD2

DD2

2nd Level

3rd Level

S =f(t)

Original Signal Time-Frequency Domain

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

LOWPASS

HIGHPASS

AAA3

DAA3

ADA3

DDA3

AAD3

DAD3

ADD3

DDD3

N/8 Samples

Figure 2 - Wavelet packet decomposition scheme for a three levels analysis

the scope of this work, the reader is suggested to review the work of Misiti et al. (2000) to go further in these
aspects. Nevertheless, the criterion for selecting the wavelet to be used depends on its classification and
properties, thus it is appropriate to briefly review them.
Existing wavelets may be listed as follows (Ovanesova and Surez, 2004):
1. Gaussian, Mexican Hat, Morlet and Shannon are wavelets which have an explicit expression (), but do
not possess scaling function (). Therefore, analysis is limited to continuous wavelet transform.
2. Meyer wavelet is an infinitely regular wavelet that does not have an explicit expression for , exists and
discrete wavelet transform is possible but fast wavelet transform is not.
3. Haar, Daubechies (of order N), Symlets (of order N), Coiflet (of order N) are orthogonal wavelets. Except
for Daubechies N=1, which is the same Haar wavelet, these ones do not have explicit . Existence of
allow discrete wavelet transformation using fast wavelet transform. Nevertheless, these wavelets have
poor regularity and symmetry properties.
4. Biorthogonal (of order Nr.Nd) avoid the limitations of the orthogonal wavelets. These are compactly
supported wavelets for which symmetry and exact reconstruction are possible, although two wavelets and
scaling functions, instead of one are used. The orders Nr and Nd correspond to the wavelet orders for
reconstruction and decomposition, respectively.

On the other hand, the most relevant properties of these wavelets may be summarized as follows (Ovanesova
and Surez, 2004):
1. Regularity: This property is related with the number of possible derivatives of the original function. It is
useful for achieving adequate smoothness in the reconstructed signals.
2. Support: The support of a function is the smallest time-set outside of which the function is identically
zero. Well supported wavelets are better in time-locating the properties of the original signal.
3. Number of vanishing moments: As it is stated by its name, this number determines the order of the
polynomial that can be approximated to the original signal. It is useful for compression purposes.

4. Symmetry: this property means how much symmetric are the decomposition filters, what is useful for
avoiding dephasing.

The review of this classification and the wavelets properties made possible the definition of a criterion for the
optimal selection of the wavelet to be used in the analysis. Usually, this selection is done by a personal
preference, or by trial and error. In the work of Rezai et al. (1994), it is correctly mentioned that criterion for
choosing wavelets depends on the requirements of the particular applications, and they chose the Haar
wavelet because it is better for lower accuracy approximation and for signals with sharp
discontinuities. Nevertheless, Ovanesova and Surez (2004) pointed out that the irregularity of Haar
wavelet becomes an obstacle that should be surpassed.
It is the belief of the author that the selection criteria followed in the work by Ovanesova and Surez (2004) is
the simpler, more complete and clearly sustained criterion found in the references cited herein. Thus it will be
presented ahead and adopted for the results presented in next sections. This criterion states that:
1. Gaussian, Mexican Hat, Morlet, Shannon and Meyers wavelets must be eliminated because do not allow
carrying out fast wavelet transform, limiting the possibilities to orthogonal and biorthogonal wavelets.
2. Symmetry and exact reconstruction must be also satisfied, what constrain the choices to Haar and
biorthogonal wavelets.
3. Finally, the regularity property leaves out of competence the Haar wavelet and restricts the choices to the
biorthogonal wavelets.

Among biorthogonal wavelets, the Bior6.8 wavelet has the highest order of reconstruction and decomposition,
thus is the one which will be adopted for this work. Even though, in Appendix A, a comparison of the first
level of details for decomposition of two signals from the Imperial Valley Services Building using Haar,
Sym8 and Bior6.8 wavelets is shown. From this comparison is also concluded that Bior6.8 wavelet shows
better capabilities for detecting signal singularities.
IMPLEMENTATION OF DISCRETE AND PACKET WAVELET TRANSFORMS

Both discrete and packet wavelet transform for signal decomposition may be found in diverse personal and
commercial programs. A good choice among the possibilities is offered by the built-in commands in
MATLAB and its wavelet toolbox (Misiti et al., 2000). Appendix B and C include subroutines (developed by
the author) for rapidly and efficient discrete and packet wavelet signal decomposition and reconstruction
using this computational tool. Both subroutines print out the results in easy accessible ASCII files.

DAMAGE IDENTIFICATION

Although it has been widely demonstrated that any damage in a structure is reflected as change in its modal
properties, it is a fact that localizing the damage and being able to completely associate those changes with the
occurrence of damage instead of other phenomena as the presence of soil-structure interaction effects or the
behavior of non structural and even structural elements is a field of study that still has subjects to be explored.
In this effort concerning research for damage location and identification (type and size), it is already known
that conventional Fourier transform analysis has limitations regarding its disability for time-detecting sudden
changes in the signals. Even though that with such analysis it is possible to identify the after-event change of
a structure properties, time-windowed version of the Fourier transform is not accurate and involves numerical
limitations that can distorts the results.
Contrary to these classical techniques, wavelet analysis allows to brake down a signal into a basis of functions
that are concentrated in time and frequency, without lose of generality. Then it becomes a useful tool for
analyzing and characterizing records from instrumented structures and it is the objective of this work to use
this potential value for identifying the occurrence of damage in a structure. In the following section this

capability of the wavelet decomposition of signals for detecting signal singularities is boarded by showing a
simple theoretical example. Later on, the phenomena of damage and its relation with high frequency signal
singularities is sketched after what the main proposal of this work is presented.
THE WAVELET CAPABILITY FOR IDENTIFYING SIGNAL SINGULARITIES

In order to explain the capability of wavelet analysis for detecting singularities in signals, let us consider the
following theoretical example. Figure 3 shows in the upper section a signal composed by the sum of two
simple sinusoidal functions with frequencies of 1 and 10 Hz. Fourier amplitude spectrum of the resultant
signal is shown aside and as expected rising peaks in the spectrum reveals the frequencies of the signal
components.
Then, a pulse function is added (middle frame) and the resultant signal is calculated again. One more time,
the Fourier amplitude spectrum is presented aside. It is clear that although the new spectrum reveals the
presence of something else in the signal, no conclusion can be made about it, neither about its frequency nor
about the moment when the singularity take place. In fact, without previous knowledge about the signal,
TIME DOMAIN:
The signal and its components

FREQUENCY DOMAIN:
Amplitude Fourier spectrums

+
1

10 2
10 1

10 0
10 -1
10 -2

-1

10 -3
Inclusion of a singularity (structural damage)

+
10 2
1

10 1

10 0
10 -1
10 -2

-1

10 -3
0

10

20
30
Frequency (Hz)

40

50

TIME-FREQUENCY DOMAIN:
Discrete wavlet transform (1st level of decomposition - Square coefficients)
3
2
1

A1

0 - 25 Hz

D1

25 - 50 Hz

0
0.01
0.005
0
0

Time (s)

Figure 3 - Sinusoidal signal with and without a singularity included analyzed

by both Fourier amplitude spectrum and discrete wavelet transform

oscillatory values in the spectrum almost along all the frequency axis could be associated with noise content.
On the other hand, comparison in the time domain between the two different resultant signals is even less
conclusive. Indeed, difference is not detectable by naked eye.
Last frame in figure 3 shows the square approximation (top) and detail coefficients of the first level of
decomposition (bottom) assessed with Bior6.8 wavelet transform. It is obvious how well the detail
coefficients, which are related with high frequency content in the signal, reveal the properties (amplitude and
location) of the singularity, even just for the first level of decomposition. Although it will not presented here,
it is also obvious that more accurate frequency definition of the pulse signal could be obtained if the signal is
braked down in a higher level using wavelet packet instead of discrete wavelet transform (figure 2).
At this point, it is appropriate to explain why the convenience of speaking in terms of square coefficients. It
can be demonstrated that wavelet transform agrees with Parsevals equality (Todorovska and Hao, 2003),
which for the case of the orthogonal discrete wavelet transform it can be written as:
T

f (t ) =

t =0

N 2J

k =1

N 2J

AJ , k + D j , k
2

(12)

j =1 k =1

where f(t) is the signal in the time domain. For the case of orthogonal packet wavelet transform, this is:
T

t =0

J
2J N 2

f (t ) = C j , k
2

(13)

j =1 k =1

This representation gives the opportunity of speaking about the square coefficients as proportional quantities
to the energy of the signal, that is usually represented by the left-side term in equations 12 and 13, which is
not actually the energy but a proportional quantity to it.
THE OCCURRENCE OF DAMAGE

Let us consider a simple concrete frame subjected to an oscillatory linearly increasing sinusoidal load at the
top. And let us think that after a certain number of cycles one of the columns of the frame fails. As
schematically represented in figure 4, the failure of the element generates high frequency waves that will
travel along the structure and will be reflected as sudden changes (step or pulse functions) in the response
signal of the structure.
These waves are
manifested as singularities in the
total response

The rupture of an
element "generates"
high frequency waves

Time

Figure 4 - Conceptual scheme of damage occurrence and how it is manifested in the signal

Acceptance of this concept is the main frame of those works by Rezai et al. (1994) or Sone et al. (1995) and
the ones which followed them, and it is also the principle adopted in this work in order to detect the presence
of damage and trying to explain how it is manifested in the records of instrumented structures.
PROCEDURE PROPOSED

Once the theoretical background of wavelets and their potential capabilities have been explored, and
considering the concept of damage identification as introduced in the previous section, it is convenient to
propose a procedure in order to identify the presence of damage using the records of instrumented structures.
Then let us suggest the following steps:
1. Explore the presence of high frequency content in the signals using energy normalized spectra comparing
them against the input motion on the structure. The use of normalized spectrums pursues the
understanding of the energy distribution in the frequency domain as a first approximation for detecting the
possible presence of damage.
2. Examine the signals from the structure highpass filtering them. Look for the presence of consistently
localized pulses on them. This step will allow having a first idea about how the high frequency contents
observed in spectrums may be localized in the time domain.
3. Perform a first level decomposition using discrete or packet wavelet transforms. Search in the detail
square coefficients for the presence of peak values. At this point is useful to normalize the coefficients
with respect to the mean value as a way to isolate the peak values from the high frequency noise
associated coefficients.
4. If the presence of peak values is consistent in an acceptable and reasonable number of signals, make a
second or higher level of decomposition using the wavelet packet transform, selecting the highest set of
coefficients, and search again for consistent peaks values.
5. Make conclusions about the occurrence of damage, its location in time and, if the arrange of instruments
makes it possible, its location in the structure.

APPLICATION ON THE IMPERIAL COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING

In this section the procedure proposed is applied using the signals recorded in the Imperial County Services
Building during the October 15, 1979 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake (ML=6.6). A brief description
of the building and it instrumentation as well as the records and the damaged during the event are presented.
Then, the procedure steps proposed above are followed and the results obtained are discussed. Finally, a first
attempt for understanding how the energy produced by the damage is propagated along the building is
included.
THE IMPERIAL COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING
Description of the building and its instrumentation

Imperial County Services building was a six-story reinforced concrete structure in the El Centro area, which,
at the time of its operational life were a primary farming community, making of the building one of the major
structures in the zone.
The building was designed according with the considerations in the 1967 Uniform Building Code and was
finished in 1969. Its plan dimensions were 41.70 by 26.02 m (figure 5). Height of the building was 25.48 m.
Foundation system of the building was composed of piles groups and pile caps directly located under the
columns and walls ends, as shown in the figure. Pile caps were also connected each other by ground-level
beams. The soil in which the building were founded consisted soft to medium-stiff damp sandy clay with
organic materials and with inter-layers of medium dense moist sand from 0 to 9 m, and stiff, moist sandy clay
and silty clay beneath 9 m.

10

38.1 m
7.62 m

7.62 m

7.62 m

7.62 m

7.62 m

7.62 m

7.62 m

22.86 m

7.62 m

Foundation and Ground Level

41.7 m
1.80 m

1.80 m

1.58 m

26.0 m

1.58 m

Typical Floor Layout

Figure 5 - Foundation-ground level and typical floor plans

11

4.01 m

Roof

5th Floor

4 @ 4.11 m

25.5 m

6th Floor

4th Floor
3rd Floor
"Free Field"
Accelerometers

2nd Floor

5.03 m

Ground Floor

41.7 m
104 m

E-W Section

41.7 m

INSTALATION NOTES:

26.0 m

- Accelerometers 1 through 4 attached

to the underside of roof slab.

- Accelerometers 5 through 13
attached to topside of slabs.

3
4

- Horizontal starter adjacent

and parallel to accelerometer 4.
- Vertical starter adjacent to triaxial
package on ground floor.

Roof Plan

5
"Free Field"
Accelerometers

4th Floor Plan

F3
F2
10

9
6

2nd Floor Plan

3m

11
12

F1

13

Ground Floor Plan

104 m

Figure 6 - Scheme of the building instrumentation

12

Structural elements were made of reinforced concrete with minimum ultimate compressive strength of 27.6
MPa for walls, beams and slabs, 34.5 MPa for columns and 20.7 MPa for the foundation elements.
Reinforcement steel was 276 MPa. Structural configuration in the NS (transverse) direction was composed
by two concrete panels at the east and west ends of the building (figure 5). These panels extended only from
the second floor level to the roof and were supported by cantilever parts of the frame beams which extended
in the EW direction. At the ground level, four panels were located between axis 2 and 3 along lines A and C
through D as can be seen in the figure. In the EW (longitudinal) direction, structural system was composed
by four beam-column frames. Faade columns were cross-sectional variable, changing from rectangular to
trapezoidal shape at the second floor level.
Seismic instrumentation of the building consisted on thirteen force balance accelerometers (FBA-1) and a
free field triaxial accelerometer (SMA-1). Figure 6 shows orientation and location of these instruments.
Accelerometers 1 through 4 were attached under the roof slab, while accelerometers 5 through 13 were at the
topside of floor slabs. System was ruled by a horizontal starter adjacent and parallel to accelerometer 4 and a
vertical starter adjacent to triaxial arrange on ground floor. The outside of the building triaxial accelerometer
were located 104 m east from the north-east corner of the building, approximately.
More details about the structural configuration and instrumentation of the building can be found in Koji et al.
(1984) and in the references therein cited.
Records and damage during the Imperial Valley Earthquake

On October 19, 1979 Imperial Valley, California suffered the occurrence of an ML=6.6 earthquake originated
at the Imperial Fault, near to El Centro area. This event was excellently recorded by the 16 channels network
of the Imperial Services Building, which resulted seriously damaged because of its occurrence and had to be
later demolished.
The Imperial Valley Earthquake had epicenter about 26 km southeast from the building at a depth of 8 km
approximately. The acceleration records at the Imperial County Services Building were digitized by the
automatic digitization system at the University of Southern California and band pass filtered from 0.125 to
25.0 Hz.
Horizontal acceleration signals for the twelve translational channels in the building are shown in figure 7 and
vertical movement at the ground level and free field records in both horizontal and vertical components are
presented in figure 9. Figure 8 and 10 show the displacements to the accelerations included in figures 7 and
9, respectively. Peak accelerations in the NS directions were 571 cm/s2 and 339 cm/s2 at the roof and the
ground floor levels, respectively. While in the EW direction were 461 cm/s2 and 331 cm/s2, in the same
order.
As mentioned above, during the occurrence of the earthquake, the building suffered extensively damage
(Koji et al., 1984). Principal failures took placed on the columns at the ground level along line F, where the
vertical reinforcement was exposed and buckled and core concrete could not be retained, what produced a
shortening of these columns causing cracking of the floor beams and slabs near column line F on the second,
third and higher floors.
Columns in lines A, B, D and E also suffered damage (Koji et al., 1984). Columns in line A and E did not
suffer such extensive damage as shortening and buckling of the bars like columns in line F, but large concrete
cracks and exposed reinforcing bars could be seen near the base of these columns. Columns in lines B
through E had visible cracking and spalling of the concrete cover. Appendix D includes several pictures that
illustrate these damages better.
Deeper analysis about the behavior of the building and its inelastic response was made by Koji et al. (1984).
This work concluded that the building motion in the NS direction (was) significantly influenced by the
soil-structure interaction and in the EW direction by the reduction in the column stiffness and that the
columns on line F were severely overloaded suggesting that the nature of the failure of these columns
(was) predominantly in a brittle, compressive mode

13

ACCELERATION (cm/s2 )
0.125 to 25.0 Hz

NS DIRECTION
600
300
0
-300
-600

CH 1

CH 2

CH 3

CH 7

CH 8

CH 9

CH 10

CH 11

EW DIRECTION
600
300
0
-300
-600

CH 4

CH 5

CH 6

CH 13

10

15

20

Time (s)

Figure 7 - Accelerations recorded in the building in both horizontal directions

14

DISPLACEMENT (cm)
0.125 to 25.0 Hz

NS DIRECTION
20
10
0
-10
-20

CH 1

CH 2

CH 3

CH 7

CH 8

CH 9

CH 10

CH 11

EW DIRECTION
40
20
0
-20
-40

CH 4

CH 5

CH 6

CH 13

10

15

20

Time (s)

Figure 8 - Displacements recorded in the building in both horizontal directions

15

ACCELERATION (cm/s2 )
0.125 to 25.0 Hz

VERTICAL DIRECTION
200
100
0
-100
-200

CH 12

"FREE FIELD" SITE

200
100
0
-100
-200

NS

EW

VERT.

10

15

20

Time (s)

Figure 9 - Vertical acceleration recorded in the building and three

components of acceleration recorded in the free field station
DISPLACEMENT (cm)
0.125 to 25.0 Hz

VERTICAL DIRECTION
8
4
0
-4
-8

CH 12

"FREE FIELD" SITE

20
10
0
-10
-20

NS

EW

VERT.

10

15

20

Time (s)

Figure 10 - Vertical displacement recorded in the building and three

components of displacement recorded in the free field station

16

APPLICATION OF THE PROCEDURE PROPOSED

Looking at the signals, almost at naked eye is possible to see a couple of details that suggest the moment of
the damage occurrence, but it is obvious that this is not enough. This makes of this example an excellent
opportunity to perform an analysis of the kind that was described above and test the procedure proposed. In
the next sections, steps recommended before are followed and damaged identifications is performed with
promising results.
Steps 1 and 2: High frequency content in the records

Steps 1 and 2 are intended to know about the high frequency content in the signals. The first of these steps
consist in analyze normalized energy spectrums of the in-the-building signals comparing them with the input
motion. Because the concept of energy has a wide variety of presentations, let us describe it in the sense that
it will be understood in this section. Let the energy spectrum of a signal be defined as:
NS - Channel
in the building

NS - "Free Field"

10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 1
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 7
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 10
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10

15

20

25

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 11 - Comparison of normalized energy spectrums of signals in the NS direction

from the west side of the building against free field signal in the same direction

17

E ( ) = F ( )

(14)

and its normalized version as:

EN ( ) =

E ( )

(15)

E ( ) d

where F() is the Fourier spectra of the signal f(t) and is the frequency.
Reason for normalizing the energy spectrum rests in the desire of isolating the results from the amplitude
induced by the structural response, and better understands how the distribution of the energy in the signal is,
when it is observed in the frequency domain. Figures 11 to 13 show comparisons of normalized energy
NS - Channel
in the building

NS - "Free Field"

10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 2
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 8
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 11
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10

15

20

25

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 12 - Comparison of normalized energy spectrums of signals in the NS direction

from the middle of the building against free field signal in the same direction

18

spectrums for the acceleration signals recorded in the building on the transverse direction. All of them are
compared with the spectra of the free field corresponding to the same direction (FF 3). In order to recognize
when the spectrums of the building signals exceed that of the free field, area below the later has been shaded.
Spectrums are limited above 10 Hz according to the objective of detecting the presence of high frequency
content in the signals.
This comparison reveals that signals at channels 1, 7, 10, 8 and 9 have energy distributions with grater levels
of concentration (at high frequencies) than the input motion, in the same component of movement. Channel 9
is the most evident case with grater content of energy for frequencies above 12 Hz. In the case of channels 1,
7, 10 and 8, this concentration of energy is given for values of frequency above 22 Hz, approximately.
Equivalent comparison was also done for records corresponding to the EW direction. Results not presented
here did not reveal any significant high frequency energy content in those signals when compared with the
free field (input) motion.
NS - Channel
in the building

NS - "Free Field"

10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 3
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 9
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10 -1

Amplitude

10 -2
10 -3

CH 11
vs
FF 3

10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
10 -7
10

15

20

25

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 13 - Comparison of normalized energy spectrums of signals in the NS direction

from the east of the building against free field signal in the same direction

19

As pointed out, channel 9 is the most evident case of high frequency content. Even if it is observed in the
time domain (figure 7), is clear that something happened near to 11 s. Indeed, it is quite a lot of similar to the
theoretical example discussed above in figure 3. Not only talking about the presence of the pulse-kindfunction at 11 s, but also because of those oscillatory peaks in the frequency domain (figures 13 and 3). This
makes interesting to go in deeper detail in its analysis.

Amplitude (cm/s)

Figure 14 shows channel 9 time-windowed Fourier amplitude spectra for high frequency (10 to 25 Hz), and
its associated acceleration signal. It is observed that high frequency content is concentrated between 4 and 12
s with some important concentrations around 6 and 9 and 11 s.

15
20
10
5
15
0
10
10

15

Frequency (Hz)

Time (s)

20
5
25

700
0
Acc. (cm/s2)

-700

Figure 14 - Time-windowed Fourier amplitude spectrum

of acceleration signal recorded in channel 9

Going into the second step of the procedure proposed, let us examine the signals performing a highpass filter
on them. Inferior limit was fixed at 22 Hz according to the observations made in the spectrums. Filtering
process was done by means of the software Degtra A4 (Ordaz and Montoya, 2004) using a Butteworth filter.
Results for signals in the NS direction are shown in figure 15 and in figure 16 for the case of the signals
oriented in the longitudinal component. Filtered signals are limited between 5 and 13 s, interval which may
be considered to be associated to the intense phase of the earthquake.
As pointed in the proposing of the procedure, this step tries to let us look for the presence of consistently
localized pulses in the signals given the existence of predominant high frequencies as those found. It can be
seen in the figures referred that several pulses appear along the time. Nevertheless not all of them are
consistent in the entire set of records.
For the case of movement in transversal component, three main ranges can be selected. The first one begins
about 5.6 s and is apparently first felt in channel 7 and 8. This first high frequency pulse is present up to

20

ACCELERATION (cm/s2 )
- High pass fitered: 22 Hz -

NS DIRECTION - WEST SIDE

20

CH 1

0
-20

CH 7

CH 10

NS DIRECTION - MIDDLE
16
CH 2

0
-16

CH 8

CH 11

NS DIRECTION - EAST SIDE

60
CH 3

0
-60

CH 9

CH 11

10

11

12

13

Time (s)

Figure 15 - Filtered signals in the building in the NS component of movement

7.3 s and has two predominant peaks occurring around 6.4 and 6.9 s (see channel 7). Second main range is
located between 7.7 and 9.3 s. It seems that started at 9 and 1, although they are not near in the building
(figure 6). According to these channels it also present two main pulses that took place near to 8.3 and 9 s.
Last main range is present from 10.6 to 11.7 s. In it, three different pulses can be differentiated, but only the

21

ACCELERATION (cm/s2 )
- High pass fitered: 22 Hz -

EW DIRECTION - MIDDLE
12

CH 4

0
-12

CH 5

CH 6

CH 13

10

11

12

13

Time (s)

Figure 16 - Filtered signals in the building in the EW component of movement

one in the middle is consistent along all the signals at 11.1 s. The other two are around 10.8 and 11.5 s.
Notice that channel 9 reaches the highest amplitude values around 11.1 s and that somehow this amplitude
seems to be propagated to the nearest channels to it (i.e. channels 8, 6 and 3).
On the other hand, filtered signals in the longitudinal direction are only consistent for the pulses between 10.6
and 11.7 s, in agreement with the range previously discussed for the transverse component of movement.
Although both normalized energy spectra and filtered signals are suggesting about the presence of the damage
in the building, its size and occurrence time, being accurately conclusive about this aspects is difficult. This
leads us to the following step in the procedure proposed.
Step 3: Discrete wavelet transform

Figure 17 shows the square coefficients corresponding to the firs level of decomposition using the Bior6.8
discrete wavelet transform. Same process was performed for the signals in the longitudinal direction but
conclusion from them does not differ from the next discussions and will not be presented here. Since
frequency content of the signals is defined to be from 0 to 25 Hz, these coefficients are associated with
frequency content in the signals between 12.5 and 25 Hz.
Figure 17 also present a first selection of regions where peak values are consistently present in the signals,
which is pointed out in shaded areas. Instead of the previous analysis with the filtered signals, in this case is
possible to define in a clearer form the instants in which these peaks, that are believed to be associated with
the damage occurrence, take place.
First selection goes from 6.3 to 6.8 s and reaches its highest values in channels 7 and 2, which are in the west
side of the second floor level and in the middle of the roof, respectively. Second interval is located between
8.3 and 8.6 s and its origin, according with its highest value, seems to be related, again, with channel 7. Third
range starts almost immediately at 8.8 s and finished around 9.2 s. Highest values for this third interval are
identified in cannels 1 and 8, at the west side of the roof and in the middle of second floor level. Fourth
selection is perhaps the less clear of all selected intervals. It is defined between 10.6 and 10.8 s and is related
with the three channels at the roof of the building.

22

On the other hand, last interval is the clearest located and defined. It is obvious that is related with the
channel 9 signal and that is propagated along the east side of the building to channel 3 at the roof and in the
same second floor level from channel 9 to 8. Nevertheless, peak values are found kind of dephased, thus the
selection of the range from 11 to 11.4 s.
Notice that these selections and maximum values on channels 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are in good agreement with
previous observations from the normalized energy spectrums. Queerly, although for the filtered signals and
NS DIRECTION

SQUARE COEFFICIENTS (cm 2 /s4 )

12.5 to 25.0 Hz

5000
2500

CH 1

0
4000
2000

CH 2

0
5000
2500

CH 3

0
4000
2000

CH 7

0
2000
1000

CH 8

0
60000
30000

CH 9

0
1200
600

CH 10

0
1600
800

CH 11

0
4

10

12

14

Time (s)

Figure 17 - Detail square coefficients at the first level of decomposition

for acceleration signals in the transversal component of movement

23

for the first level of decompositions, channel 3 is also one of the suggesting ones, its normalized energy
spectrum did not show any particular distribution of high frequencies.
Step 4: Wavelet packet decomposition

Looking at figure 17, it can be suggested that would be convenient perform some kind of smoothing process
in the coefficients in order to eliminate spurious peaks or high frequency noise associated coefficients. A
NS DIRECTION

SQUARE COEFFICIENTS (cm 2 /s4 )

18.75 to 25.0 Hz

5000
2500

CH 1

0
5000
2500

CH 2

0
4000
2000

CH 3

0
4000
2000

CH 7

0
2000
1000

CH 8

0
60000
30000

CH 9

0
2400
1200

CH 10

0
2000
1000

CH 11

0
4

10

12

14

Time (s)

Figure 18 - Highest detail square coefficients at the second level of decomposition

for acceleration signals in the transversal component of movement

24

better option to obtain an equivalent result for smoothness and, at the same time, improving the selection of
the peaks without lose of information about the energy representation that is given by the coefficient values, is
follow with the fourth step of the procedure proposed, making a next level of decomposition in the signals by
means of the wavelet packet transform.
Figure 18 shows the highest detail square coefficients at the second level of decomposition (i.e. DD2
coefficients, see also decomposition scheme showed in figure 2). These coefficients correspond to the signal
energy content above 18.75 Hz. As done for the previous step, figure 18 also shows with shaded areas the
selected time intervals which are believed to be associated with the damage occurrence (peak coefficients).
Since the second level of decomposition means better frequency-domain information about the coefficients, it
also means lower time-domain localization of them. Nevertheless, it allowed identifying better the intervals
as follows:
First interval:

Is defined from 6.50 to 6.7 s. Maximum values took place in channels 2, 7 and 10 for the
roof, second and ground floor levels.
Second interval: Delimited between 8.5 and 8.6 s. Its maximum values correspond to both channels 7 and 9
at the second floor level of the building in opposite west and east sides.
Third interval: Beginning in 8.8 s and finishing in 9.1 s is the less time-located and possibly associated
with multiple damages. Peak values took place on channels 1 and 9, at the roof and second
floor level.
Fourth interval: Defined between 10.6 and 10.8 s, this interval has a unique maximum peak value on
channel 1 at the west side of the building roof.
Fifth interval:
Last interval is delimited from 11.0 to 11.3 s and is clearly related to damage occurred at the
second floor level of the building, near to where channel 9 recorded the signal associated
with that lonely maximum peak value clearly distinguishable on figures 17 and 18.
Step 5: Conclusions

Final step in the procedure proposed is to make conclusions about the occurrence of damage and its time and
location. According to the results discussed above, the following conclusions can be made:
Damage has been adequately detected in the structure by means of the procedure. High frequency content
of energy associated with its occurrence has been identified in some of the signals analyzed through a
classical spectral analysis as wells as by filtering the signals and applying both discrete and packet wavelet
transforms.
Five intervals along the intense phase of the earthquake have been selected as representative of the
occurrence of the damage and the maximum values from each of those intervals were identified and
suggest the location of the damage.
According to the first and second intervals, beginning of damage in the building occurred at the west side
of it (columns in line A and B) about 6.5 and 8.5 s. Also at 8.5 s damage took place in the east side of the
building (columns in line F).
Just 0.3 s later (at 8.8 s) damage is present again at the east side of the building and it definitely reaches its
top at 11 s, when the final failure of columns in line F surely occurred.
In spite of these consistent results, some peak values that have not been related with the existent record of
damage were also identified in channels 1 and 2, which are located at the roof of the building, on the west
side and on the middle of it, respectively. These peaks took place during intervals beginning at 6.6, 8.8
and 10.6 s. More delicate study must be performed in order to clarify the presence of these results
ENERGY PROPAGATION: A FIRST ATTEMPT

As far as detection of the damage occurred on the Imperial County Services Building has been done, and
considering that the proposed method using the coefficients derived from the discrete or the packet wavelet
transforms have been explicitly related with the energy in the response of the system, get interested about how
does this energy propagate along the structure looks to be the next step.

25

Here just presented as a first attempt, because it is clear that such a subject of study requires more rigorous
treatment, figures 19 to 23 and figures 24 to 28 show in two different ways how the energy represented by the
square coefficients values is propagated through the building. In the first ones, each point representing the
position of an instrument is accompanied by the maximum value of the coefficients within the selected
interval. Levels traced between each point along all the schematic representation of the building were
arbitrarily fixed trying to represent a logical linear distribution.
Figure 19 shows the energy propagation for the interval between 6.5 and 5.7 s. The mentioned occurrence of
the first damage at the west side of the building is localized by the peak value at left side of second floor
(channel 9) and is possible to appreciate its decreasing along the west faade up to the roof and the ground
levels and all along the second floor level itself. Peak value at the middle of the roof is one of those values
for which we have not yet a clear explanation.
Figure 20 corresponds to the interval starting at 8.5 s. At this time it seems that a simultaneous damage
occurred in west and east sides of the building near to the second floor (column lines A and B, and E and F).
Apparently, vertical decay of the energy from the west side damage is slower than that of the east side,
although both of them rapidly decay to the lowest value at the middle of the second floor (channel 8).
Propagation showed in figure 21 suggest a continuing damage at the east side of the building (peak value at
channel 9), besides, again, the presence of an unexplained maximum value at west side of the roof (channel
1). Propagation in figure 21 seems to be slower in the horizontal component (along the second floor level)
that in the vertical (along the east side wall to the roof and columns to the ground).
For the interval beginning at 10.6 s shown in figure 22, a little shy value rise one more time in the roof west
side. Its propagation is well looking and just interfered by the presence of a low-medium value at the center
of second floor. Once again, this peaks values at roof do not match with the record we have about damaged
occurred in the building and remain as an unsolved question.

1040

4030

520

Roof

3160

1740

310

2nd Floor

2020

2000

4000

1800

3800

1600

3600

1400

3400

1200

3200

1000

3000

800

2800

600

2600

400

2400

200

2200

1970

Ground Floor

Figure 19 - Energy propagation between 6.5 and 6.7 s

26

800

270

200

Roof

1290

120

1900

1000

1900

900

1800

800

1700

700

1600

600

1500

500

1400

400

1300

300

1200

200

1100

100

2nd Floor

590

770

Ground Floor

Figure 20 - Energy propagation between 8.5 and 8.6 s

4070

580

390

Roof

1620

3570

1790

2nd Floor

410

2000

4000

1800

3800

1600

3600

1400

3400

1200

3200

1000

3000

800

2800

600

2600

400

2400

200

2200

980

Ground Floor

Figure 21 - Energy propagation between 8.8 and 9.1 s

27

1900

1290

580

Roof

35

490

290

2nd Floor

900

1900

800

1800

700

1700

600

1600

500

1500

400

1400

300

1300

200

1200

100

1100

1000

21

47

Ground Floor

Figure 22 - Energy propagation between 10.6 and 10.8 s

920

2720

3750

Roof

290

660

50450

2nd Floor

44

2000

50000

1000

40000

900

30000

800

20000

700

10000

600

9000

500

8000

400

7000

300

6000

200

5000

100

4000

3000

510

Ground Floor

Figure 23 - Energy propagation between 11 and 11.3 s

28

Last propagation arrange form interval corresponding to damage occurred about 11 s is shown in figure 23.
Surely associated with the final failure of columns in line F, peak maximum energy value (coefficient) at
channel 9 decay rapidly along the second floor and slower along the east side panel up to the roof and neither
so slow nor so fast through the columns to the ground level. As widely mentioned above, this is the clearest
result and it does not need more explanation.
The second set of figures (24 to 28) try to shows the same idea of the energy propagation but thinking on the
building as whole body. The contour lines where traced using the software SURFER and its built-in option to
adjust a minimum curvature surface to the data. Conclusions from these figures do not differ to much from
the comments above about figures 19 to 23. This representation is shown in order to offer different options
that could be taken in count for future works.
Roof
6th Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
Ground Floor

Figure 19 - Energy propagation between 6.5 and 6.7 s

Roof
6th Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
Ground Floor

Figure 20 - Energy propagation between 8.5 and 8.6 s

29

Roof
6th Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
Ground Floor

Figure 21 - Energy propagation between 8.8 and 9.1 s

Roof
6th Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
Ground Floor

Figure 22 - Energy propagation between 10.6 and 10.8 s

Roof
6th Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
Ground Floor

Figure 23 - Energy propagation between 11 and 11.3 s

30

FINAL COMMENTS

A method for detecting the occurrence of damage in instrumented structures is proposed. Theoretical
background is presented accompanied with a simple example that shows the potential capabilities of using
wavelet decomposition methods for identifying signal singularities, as those that are believed to be associated
with damage occurrence.
Later on, the procedure is tested using the records of the Imperial County Services Building, which suffered
severe damage during the October 19, 1979 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake, and promising results
about the method are obtained and used to do a first attempt for understanding how the energy released by the
damage propagate along the structure.
These results suggest that the first damage in the building occurred at 6.5 seconds and was associated with the
preliminary failure of columns in line A. Subsequent damage was detected about 8.5 s, when damage in line
A columns continued and was possibly extended to columns in line B. At this same time, columns in the east
side of the building (line F) started to fail. Continuing failure of columns in line F and maybe also damage of
columns in line E was detected around 9 s. Final failure of the columns at the east side of the building
occurred at 11 s.
In spite of the true that the procedure proposed, using the wavelet transform capabilities for decomposing the
signals in a time-frequency-located domain, was shown to be promising, some results suggested that there are
aspects that require a deeper study.
Explanation about the singularities found in an example as clear as the here presented should be found. Test
the procedure in other buildings, with and without damages, during relevant earthquakes as well as debug it
for making it high-frequency-noise resistant are two possible next steps.

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32

APPENDIX A
COMPARISON OF RESULTS FROM THREE DIFFERENT WAVELETS TRANSFORMS

Figures A.1 and A.2 shows results for the detail coefficients at the first level of decomposition, using three
different wavelet transforms, for two records of acceleration at channels 2 and 8 from the Imperial County
Services Building during the 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake.
Coefficients are presented in square values and normalized with respect to the average of all the coefficients
in the level of decomposition. Preliminary work by the author has revealed that this normalization is useful
for detecting signal singularities among the typical high frequency noise of acceleration signals. Comparison
of the results obtained from this three different wavelet transforms reveals that Haar is more susceptible to the
CHANNEL 2
Acc. (cm/s2 )

600
300
0
-300
-600

C 2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Haar

40
20
0

C2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Sym8

40
20
0

C 2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Bior6.8

40
20
0
4

10

12

14

Time (s)

Figure A.1 - First level of decomposition detail normalized coefficients

for acceleration recorded at channel 2 of the Imperial County Services
Building using Haar, Sym8 and Bior6.8 wavelet transforms

33

signal noise than the Sym8 and Bior6.8 wavelet transforms (see figures A.1 and A.2 between 6.8 and 8.5 s).
It can be also seen that Bior6.8 achieves a better amplification of the obvious singularities (see figure A.1 near
to 6.5 s and A.2 around 9 and 11.2 s).
These observations agree with the theoretical reasons given in the main part of this work for selecting the
Bior6.8 wavelet as a good option for detecting signal singularities. Nevertheless it must be recognized that
Sym8 also presents good results and constitutes a latent option to be considered. This confirms that, as
highlighted in the conclusions, further work must be done in this subject.
CHANNEL 8

Acc. (cm/s2 )

400
200
0
-200
-400

C 2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Haar

40
20
0

C 2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Sym8

40
20
0

C 2 /C2 Ave.

80
60
Bior6.8

40
20
0
4

10

12

14

Time (s)

Figure A.2 - First level of decomposition detail normalized coefficients

for acceleration recorded at channel 8 of the Imperial County Services
Building using Haar, Sym8 and Bior6.8 wavelet transforms.

34

APPENDIX B
SUBROUTINE FOR DISCRETE WAVELET SIGNAL DECOMPOSITION

The following subroutine was developed as a .m file for Matlab 6.0 Release 12. Signal files to be processed
must be in ASCII format with a column of data which first value is the delta of time. An additional file name
ProcessPar.dat must be prepared containing the number of signals to be processed, the name of the wavelet to
be used (as recognized by MATLAB) and the names of the signal files in the subsequent rows.
% Define basic parameters
%
%
%
%

Load file 'ProcessPar.dat' with:

First line:
Number of signal to process (NSignals)
Second line: Wavelet name to use (WaveName)
Third and on: Filenames

Par = fopen('ProcessPar.dat');
NSignals = str2num(fgetl(Par));
WaveName = fgetl(Par);
NLevels = str2num(fgetl(Par));
% Main loop for processin signals
for i = 1:NSignals
% Process Flag
['Processing Signal No: ' num2str(i)]
% Load signal file
iFile = fgetl(Par);
Sig = fopen(iFile);
S = fscanf(Sig,'%f');
[NPoints,Aux] = size(S);
S = S(2:NPoints);
[NPoints,Aux] = size(S);
% Close signal file
fclose(Sig);
% Computes DWT with WaveName wavelet in NLevels
[C,L] = wavedec(S,NLevels,WaveName);
% Detail levels
for j = 1:NLevels
% Computes the coeficients for each level
% and keep them in Matrix Coefs(Coeficients,Level)
Coefs(1:L(length(L)-j),j) = detcoef(C,L,j);
% Computes reconstructions for each level
% and keep them in Matrix Recons(Reconstructed dignals,Level)
Recons(1:max(L),j) = wrcoef('d',C,L,WaveName,j);
end
% Approximation levels
Coefs(1:L(1),NLevels+1) = appcoef(C,L,WaveName,NLevels);
Recons(1:max(L),NLevels+1) = wrcoef('a',C,L,WaveName,NLevels);
% Creates a matrix with the value of coeficients^2
AbsCoefs=Coefs.^2;

35

% Creates names for output files

FCoefs =
['Coefs ' iFile];
FCoefs2 = ['Coef2 ' iFile];
FApproxs = ['Recos ' iFile];
FLength = ['Legts ' iFile];
% Print out the coeficients
Co = fopen(FCoefs,'w');
for k = 1:L(length(L)-1)
for m = 1:NLevels
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E',Coefs(k,m));
end
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E\r\n',Coefs(k,NLevels+1));
end
fclose(Co);
% Print out the coeficients^2
Co2 = fopen(FCoefs2,'w');
for k = 1:L(length(L)-1)
for m = 1:NLevels
fprintf(Co2,'%18.6E',AbsCoefs(k,m));
end
fprintf(Co2,'%18.6E\r\n',AbsCoefs(k,NLevels+1));
end
fclose(Co2);
% Print out the approximations
Rec = fopen(FApproxs,'w');
for k = 1:L(length(L))
for m = 1:NLevels
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E',Recons(k,m));
end
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E\r\n',Recons(k,NLevels+1));
end
fclose(Rec);
% Print out the approximations
FLen = fopen(FLength,'w');
for k = 1:length(L)
fprintf(FLen,'%f\r\n',L(k));
end
fclose(FLen);
end
fclose(Par);

36

APPENDIX C
SUBROUTINE FOR PACKET WAVELET SIGNAL DECOMPOSITION

The following subroutine was developed as a .m file for Matlab 6.0 Release 12. Signal files to be processed
must be in ASCII format with a column of data which first value is the delta of time. An additional file name
ProcessPar.dat must be prepared containing the number of signals to be processed, the name of the wavelet to
be used (as recognized by MATLAB) and the names of the signal files in the subsequent rows.
% Define basic parameters
%
%
%
%

Load file 'ProcessPar.dat' with:

First line:
Number of signal to process (NSignals)
Second line:
Wavelet name to use (WaveName)
Third and so on: Filenames

Par = fopen('ProcessPar.dat');
NSignals = str2num(fgetl(Par));
WaveName = fgetl(Par);
NLevels = str2num(fgetl(Par));
% Main loop for processin signals
for i = 1:NSignals
% Process Flag
['Processing Signal No: ' num2str(i)]
% Load signal file
iFile = fgetl(Par);
Sig = fopen(iFile);
S = fscanf(Sig,'%f');
[NPoints,Aux] = size(S);
S = S(2:NPoints);
[NPoints,Aux] = size(S);
% Close signal file
fclose(Sig);
% Computes PWT with WaveName wavlet in NLevels
% At his point default Entropy and P optional parameters are used
% this is something that should be studied in a near future
Tree = wpdec(S,NLevels,WaveName);
% Levels decomposition
Col = 1;
for j = 1:NLevels
for k = 1:2^j
% Computes the coeficients for each level
% and keep them in Matrix Coefs
TempCoef = wpcoef(Tree,[j k-1]);
Coefs(1:length(TempCoef),Col) = TempCoef;
% Computes reconstructions for each level
% and keep them in Matrix Recons
TempReco = wprcoef(Tree,[j k-1]);
Recons(1:NPoints,Col) = TempReco;

37

% Update the column in the matrices

Col = Col + 1;
end
% Vector of level coefficients lengths
L(j) = length(TempCoef);
end
% Update actual value of number of columns
Col = Col -1;
% Creates a matrix with the value of coeficients^2
AbsCoefs=Coefs.^2;
% Creates names for output files
FCoefs =
['Coefs ' iFile];
FCoefs2 = ['Coef2 ' iFile];
FApproxs = ['Recos ' iFile];
FLength = ['Legts ' iFile];
% Print out the coeficients
Co = fopen(FCoefs,'w');
for j = 1:max(L)
for k = 1:Col-1
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E',Coefs(j,k));
end
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E\r\n',Coefs(j,Col));
end
fclose(Co);
% Print out the coeficients
Co2 = fopen(FCoefs2,'w');
for j = 1:max(L)
for k = 1:Col-1
fprintf(Co2,'%18.6E',AbsCoefs(j,k));
end
fprintf(Co2,'%18.6E\r\n',AbsCoefs(j,Col));
end
fclose(Co2);
% Print out the approximations
Rec = fopen(FApproxs,'w');
for j = 1:NPoints
for k = 1:Col-1
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E',Recons(j,k));
end
fprintf(Co,'%18.6E\r\n',Recons(j,Col));
end
fclose(Rec);
% Print out the approximations
FLen = fopen(FLength,'w');
for k = 1:length(L)
fprintf(FLen,'%f\r\n',L(k));
end
fclose(FLen);
end
fclose(Par);

38

APPENDIX D

Figure D.1 - General view (towards North-East) of Imperial Valley County Services Building

Figure D.2 - Ground floor damage of column E4 (top)

39

Figure D.3 - Ground floor damage

at the bottom of column E4

Figure D.4 - Typical damage of columns

on lines 2 and 3 and rows D

Figure D.5 - Ground floor. Typical damage of columns on rows A and B (top)

40

Figure D.6 - Ground floor typical damage of columns E2 and E3 (bottom)

Figure D.7 - Ground floor typical damage of columns F1 and F2 (bottom)

41

Figure D.8 - Damage of column F1 (bottom)

42