A novel framework and validation for the dynamic characterization of civil structures via ground-based lidar

While there has been substantial research conducted on the use of Ground-Based Lidar (GBL; i.e., Terrestrial Laser Scanners) in monitoring the static deformation of civil structures, its application in monitoring dynamic vibrations of structures, which is critical for structural health monitoring (SHM), has only been studied to a limited extent. Traditional contact-based SHM frameworks are constrained by a limited number of sensors and the need for physical access for instrumentation placement. Although recent case studies demonstrate GBL's potential in quantifying dynamic displacements, there is a need for more comprehensive research to validate the accuracy of GBLbased dynamic measurements under various GBL- and structure-based parameters in an autonomous and scalable framework. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop and comprehensively validate a novel end-to-end framework to monitor the dynamic vibrations of structures using GBL through extensive experimentation in a controlled laboratory environment. In this study, a novel two-step spatio-temporal algorithm was developed to extract the dynamic vibrations of structures from the dynamic point clouds. The framework leverages the Densitybased Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) and change detection algorithms. The impact of several GBL-based parameters on the accuracy of the operational modal analysis results was investigated across six single-degree-of-freedom structures with unique natural frequencies. The GBL-based parameters included the resolution, quality, and point-to-point distance of the dynamic point clouds. Accelerometers and infrared-based sensors were used for the validation of GBL measurements and operational modal analysis results. To validate GBL's full-field mode shapes across the tested specimen configurations, analytical and finite element models were constructed to provide high-fidelity mode shapes as ground-truth data. The results show that the GBL can detect sub-millimeter structural vibrations, and that the resulting natural frequencies and operational deflected shapes closely match those of traditional sensing modalities, and the analytical and finite element models. This study concludes that GBL can be used reliably for remotely monitoring the dynamic response of structures at a high spatial resolution. However, further research is warranted to evaluate the full extents of the proposed framework.