Characterization of six-degree-of-freedom sensors for building health monitoring

Abstract

Six-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) sensors measure translation along three axes and rotation around three axes. These collocated measurements make it possible to fully describe building motion without the need for an external reference point. This is an advantage for building health monitoring, which uses interstory drift and building eigenfrequencies to monitor stability. In this paper, IMU50 6DoF sensors are characterized to determine their suitability for building health monitoring. The sensors are calibrated using step table methods and by comparison with earth’s rotation and gravity. These methods are found to be comparable. The sensor’s self-noise is examined through the power spectral density and the Allan deviation of data recorded in a quiet environment. The effect of temperature variation is tested between 14 and 50◦ C. It appears that the self-noise of the rotation components increases while the self-noise of the acceleration components decreases with temperature. The comparison of the sensor self-noise with ambient building signal and higher amplitude shaking shows that these sensors are in general not sensitive enough for ambient signal building health monitoring in the frequency domain, but could be useful for monitoring interstory drift and building motion during, for example, strong earthquake shaking in buildings similar to those examined here.