Operational modal analysis of ramses II statue

Abstract

Ramses II Statue is an invaluable monument that was created 32 centuries ago. The sculpture is made of an 83 tons, 12 m high granite rock. In fear of the harsh environment of the heavy traffic and smoke, the statue was moved in 2006 from downtown Cairo to the outskirts of the crowded city. The project was recorded in Guinness World Records, as the event holder of two records: the Farthest Building Relocation, and the Heaviest Building Moved on Wheels. There was a fear that the relocation project itself might ruin the cracked statue. The ASU Sound and Vibration Lab at Ain Shams University was appointed to monitor the vibrations of the statue during the project. The major concern was to avoid exciting the statue close to one of its natural frequencies. Therefore, the identification of the natural frequencies and mode shapes was crucial. There were many uncertainties regarding the material and structure of the statue which made the analytical simulation impossible and the numerical simulation less confident. Traditional experimental techniques were unacceptable for this huge structure. The main idea was to perform use the Operational Modal Analysis technique using the random excitation due to the construction work to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes using. A full three-dimensional Finite Element Analysis also helped to assure that no single mode of vibrations was overlooked in the Operational Modal Analysis. This paper reports the analyses that were performed by the ASU Sound and Vibration Lab and which helped in providing the invaluable Ramses II statue a safe trip to its final destination.