Preliminary structural health monitoring results of a hybrid base-isolated building in Camerino, Italy

The integration of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems provides essential capabilities for real-time assessment of structural integrity, enabling the detection of damage, deterioration, and serviceability changes, particularly after seismic events. SHM is especially relevant in base-isolated structures, where monitoring supports verification of isolation performance, validation of analytical models, and evaluation of deviations from design assumptions under dynamic loading. This study presents the implementation and preliminary results of a permanent SHM system installed in the newly constructed Chemistry Interdisciplinary Project (ChIP) Research Centre at the University of Camerino, funded by the Italian Civil Protection Department after the 2016 Central Italy earthquakes. The building comprises a two-storey steel braced-frame structure on a reinforced concrete slab isolated from the foundations resting on a steep slope through a hybrid system constituted by 28 high-damping rubber bearings (HDRBs) and 36 low-friction sliding bearings. The SHM system, integrated from the construction stage, includes accelerometers, linear position transducers, and strain gauges placed throughout the superstructure and isolation interface to capture the building’s dynamic response. Over one year of monitoring, Ambient Vibration Testing (AVT) and Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) were performed to evaluate modal properties under ambient excitations. Furthermore, the building’s response to a local Mw 3.5 earthquake was analyzed. The results provide insights into the in-service performance of hybrid base-isolated systems under seismic, environmental, and operational loads. Findings highlight the significance of long-term SHM data for model updating, performance verification, and lifecycle management of seismically resilient infrastructure.