Wind/Structural Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series at FIU

Dr. Tadeusz Chmielewski Lecture

Dr Tadeusz Chmielewsk, Dean of the faculty of Civil Engineering, Opole University of Technology, will be presenting a lecture on "Monitoring of Slender Tall Structures using GPS" as a part of Wind/Structural Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series at FIU which is organized by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and International Hurricane Research Center at FIU.

Monitoring of Slender Tall Structures using GPS

Part 1: This part provides an overview of the Global Positioning System (GPS), including a history, basic concept of GPS operation, GPS static and Kinematic Techniques, applications of GPS for civilian use, applications of GPS in civil engineering, displacement measurements with GPS, and main sources of errors in GPS, GPS accuracy and other systems.

Part 2: This part describes the way in which the Stuttgart TV Tower was monitored (July 2006, January) using static and kinematic GPS modes. The displacements of the tower were caused by two factors. Quasi-static displacements of the tower were caused by two factors. Quasi-static displacements were caused by the combined influence of solar radiation and daily air temperature variation during different weather seasons and conditions. Dynamic displacements were caused by wind. The results clearly demonstrate that the procedure using GPS measurements allows us to collect displacement data which could be used to determine the displacement thresholds of the tower and/or to examine the changes of vibration characteristics. This data was valuable for the assessment of the integrity and reliability of the tower.