The Exeter team is responsible for field measurements for dynamic assessment and long term monitoring. Modal analysis of data from the dynamic assessments identifies dynamic characteristics of the lighthouses which are used to calibrate the structural models developed by UCL. The models will be used with the long term monitoring data to characterise the wave loads on the structures.
Core team members from Exeter are James Brownjohn (Professor of Structural Dynamics) and James Bassitt (Experimental Officer), variously supported on offshore deployments Ian Moon (technician), Emma Hudson (research fellow) and Karen Faulkner (research student).
Prof Brownjohn is responsible for the procedures, software and hardware for dynamic testing and modal analysis and overseeing the experimental activities. James Bassitt is responsible for organizing and supervising the field tests.
Field tests have so far been carried out on lighthouses at Les Hanois (Guernsey), Wolf Rock, Bishop Rock and Longships (South West England) and Fastnet Rock (Ireland). Each field test is a major logistical and technical challenge operating under constraints of time, access and weather. Test equipment including a heavy electro-dynamic shaker all has to be shipped by helicopter and to fit in with helicopter flight schedules which can be disrupted at short notice by weather. The entire operation of transferring equipment into the confined space of the lighthouse, laying out a sensor array, running a sequence of measurements , checking data quality and re-packing equipment needs to be efficiently executed in a matter of hours and requires precision planning without the benefit of a reconnaissance visit. Vibration Engineering Section have decades of experience in dynamic field testing and STORMLAMP has provided the most extreme challenges we have faced.
The University of Exeter is a public research university located in Exeter, Devon, South West England, United Kingdom. The university was founded and received its Royal Charter in 1955, although its predecessor institutions, the Royal Albert Memorial College and the University College of the South West of England, were established in 1900 and 1922 respectively.
