Summary Computational modeling, in addition to data analytics, plays an important role in structural health monitoring (SHM). The high‐fidelity computational model based on the design and construction information provide important dynamics information of the structure and, more importantly, can be updated against field measurements for SHM purposes such as damage detection, response prediction, and reliability assessment. In this paper, we present a unique skyscraper (Al‐Hamra Tower) located in Kuwait City and its high‐fidelity computational model using ETABS for structural health monitoring applications. The tower is made of cast‐in‐place reinforced concrete with a core of shear walls and two curved shear walls running the height of the building (approximately 413 m with 86 floors in total). Interesting static and dynamic characteristics of the tower are described. System identification, interferometry‐based wave propagation analysis, and wave‐based damage detection are performed using synthetic data. This work mainly presents the phase of numerical investigations, which serves as a basis for correlating the field monitoring data to the model of the building in future work.

In recent years, the construction of tall buildings has been increasing in many countries, including Kuwait and other Gulf states. These tall buildings are especially sensitive to ground shaking due to long period seismic surface waves.Although Kuwait is relatively aseismic, it has been affected by large (Mw > 6) regional earthquakes in the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt (ZFTB). Accurate ground motion prediction for large earthquakes is important to assess the seismic hazard to tall buildings. In this study, we first analyze the observed ground motions due to two earthquakes widely felt in Kuwait: the 08/18/2014 Mw 6.2 earthquake, 360 km NNE of Kuwait City, and the 11/12/2017 Mw 7.3 earthquake, 642 km NNE of Kuwait City. The peak spectral displacement periods of the ground motion from the 08/18/2014 Mw 6.2 earthquake matched well with the ambient vibration spectra of the tallest building -the Al-Hamra Tower. We calculate the ground motions from potential regional and local earthquakes. We use a velocity model obtained by matching the observed seismograms of the 2014 and 2017 earthquakes. We calculate ground motions in Kuwait due to a regional Mw = 7.5 earthquake, and a local Mw = 5.0 earthquakes. Our study shows that a significant source of seismic hazard to tall buildings in Kuwait comes from the regional tectonic earthquakes. However, local earthquakes have the potential to generate high peak ground accelerations (~ 98 cm/sec 2 ) close to their epicenters.

The response of a 413-meter-tall building to the 12 November, 2017, Mw 7.3 earthquake 642km from the building is measured with a GPS receiver located near the top of the building and operating with a 1 Hz sampling rate. Nearby GPS and seismic stations measure the ground motion near the building. The ground motions have amplitudes of ~40 mm while the top of the building moves by up to 160 mm. The building motion continues with levels greater than the noise level of the GPS measurement for about 15 minutes after the earthquake. After the ground motion excitation ends, the building motion decays with a time constant of ~2 minutes and the beat between the two lowest frequency modes of deformation of the building can be seen. There are two large amplitude peaks in the building motion with magnitudes of 120 and 160 mm. The timing of the peaks is consistent with ground excitation in a 8.3-6.5 second period (120-180 mHz) band which covers the 7.25 and 5.81 second periods (138 and 172 mHz frequencies) of the fundamental modes of the building. The ground motions in this band show two large pulses of the excitation which have timing consistent with the large amplitude building signals. The response of the top of the building is amplified by an order magnitude over the ground motions in this band. There is no apparent permanent displacement of the top of the tower.

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