System identification in structural engineering

A review of representative research reported in journal articles in the field of structural system identification published in journals since 1995 is presented. The paper is divided into five sections based on the general approach used: conventional model-based, biologically-inspired, signal processing-based, chaos theory, and multi-paradigm approaches. Most of the published papers deal with small and academic problems. System identification of large real-life structures with nonlinear behavior subjected to unknown dynamic loading such as strong ground motions is challenging. It is believed a multi-paradigm approach is the most effective strategy for system identification of large structures subjected to dynamic loading.