Damage detection in large building structures has always faced challenges due to analyzing the large amount of measured data. In this article, a new damage detection approach based on subspace method is proposed to identify damages using limited output data. Also, a new scheme is presented to develop a smart structure by integrating structural health monitoring with semi-active control strategy. If damage occurs in such a structure under severe excitations, the proposed scheme has the capability to exert necessary control forces in order to compensate for damage and reduce simultaneously the dynamic response of the structure. The reliability and feasibility of the proposed method are demonstrated by implementing the technique to two shear building structures with semi-active control devices. Results show that the damage could be identified accurately with saving time and cost due to less computation even under noise existence; and dynamic response is significantly reduced in the smart structure.

A new wavelet‐Hilbert transform based sparse component analysis (WHT‐SCA) method is presented for online system identification in indeterminate conditions. The instantaneous phase ratios of output signals are obtained by using a wavelet‐Hilbert transform based filter; and the out‐of‐phase data, that causes errors in identification accuracy, is detected and eliminated. Then, modal parameters of the structure are identified through existing relationships between the dispersion of filtered data in the frequency domain. Subsequently, to demonstrate the capability of the online identification, a new controller is introduced by combining the WHT‐SCA and a semi‐active tuned mass damper (STMD), resulting in creation of smart structures. The performance of the proposed method and controller is investigated through examples. The results demonstrate that, modal parameters of structures are identified accurately even with noise contamination and limited number of sensors. Also, the STMD is effectively robust against any variations in modal parameters of the structure.