• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.487-497
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• 2017

Semi-active devices use the building's own motion to produce resistive forces and are thus strictly dissipative and require little power. Devices that independently control the binary open/closed valve state can enable novel device hysteresis loops that were not previously possible. However, some device hysteresis loops cannot be obtained without active analog valve control allowing slower, controlled release of stored energy, and is presents an ongoing limitation in obtaining the full range of possibilities offered by these devices. This in silico study develops a proportional-derivative feedback control law using a validated nonlinear device model to track an ideal diamond-shaped force-displacement response profile using active analog valve control. It is validated by comparison to the ideal shape for both sinusoidal and random seismic input motions. Structural application specific spectral analysis compares the performance for the non-linear, actively controlled case to those obtained with an ideal, linear model to validate that the potential performance will be retained when considering realistic nonlinear behaviour and the designed valve control approach. Results show tracking of the device force-displacement loop to within 3-5% of the desired ideal curve. Valve delay, rather than control law design, is the primary limiting factor, and analysis indicates a ratio of valve delay to structural period must be 1/10 or smaller to ensure adequate tracking, relating valve performance to structural period and overall device performance under control. Overall, the results show that active analog feedback control of energy release in these devices can significantly increase the range of resetable, valve-controlled semi-active device performance and hysteresis loops, in turn increasing their performance envelop and application space.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.143-154
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• 2024

Friction pendulums typically suffer from poor uplift-restraining. To improve the uplift-restraining and enhance the energy dissipation capacity, this article proposed a composite isolation device based on electromagnetic forces. The device was constructed based on a remote control system to achieve semi-active control of the composite isolation device. This article introduces the theory and design of an electromagnetic chuck-friction pendulum system (ECFPS) and derives the theoretical equation for the ECFPS based on Maxwell's electromagnetic attraction equation to construct the proposed model. By conducting 1:3 scale tests on the electromagnetic device, the gaps between the practical, theoretical, and simulation results were analyzed, and the accuracy and effectiveness of the theoretical equation for the ECFPS were investigated. The hysteresis and uplift-restraining performance of ECFPS were analyzed by adjusting the displacement amplitude, vertical load, and input current of the simulation model. The data obtained from the scale test were consistent with the theoretical and simulated data. Notably, the hysteresis area of the ECFPS was 35.11% larger than that of a conventional friction pendulum. Lastly, a six-story planar frame structure was established through SAP2000 for a time history analysis. The isolation performances of ECFPS and FPS were compared. The results revealed that, under horizontal seismic action, the horizontal seismic response of the bottom layer of the ECFPS isolation structure is greater than that of the FPS, the horizontal vibration response of the top layer of the ECFPS isolation structure is smaller than that of the FPS, and the axial force at the bottom of the columns of the ECFPS isolation structure is smaller than that of the FPS isolation structure. Therefore, the reliable uplift-restraining performance is facilitated by the electromagnetic force generated by the device.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.281-300
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• 2014

This study proposes a scheme to design control parameters for a data center facility with a vibration controller on its top floor and a secondary isolation device with its own vibration controller designed to protect vibration-sensitive computer equipment. The aim is to reduce the effects of acceleration and drift from an earthquake on computer servers placed on the isolation device that must operate during a seismic event. A linear elastic model is constructed and the evaluation function of the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control is formulated. The relationship between the control parameters and the responses is examined, and based on the observations, a control parameter design scheme is constructed to reduce the responses of both the building and the computer server effectively.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.476-483
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• 2004

This paper presents a hybrid system combining lead rubber bearings and hydraulic actuators controlled by a μ-synthesis method for seismic response control of a cable-stayed bridge. A hybrid system could alleviate some of restrictions and limitations that exist when each system is acting alone because multiple control devices are operating. Therefore, the overall control performance of a hybrid system may be improved compared to each system, however the overall system robustness may be negatively impacted by active device in the hybrid system or active controller may cause instability due to small margins. Therefore, a f-synthesis method that guarantees the robust performance is considered to enhance the possibility of real applications of the control system. The control performances of the proposed control system are compared with those of passive, active, semiactive control systems and hybrid system controlled by LQG algorithm and an extensive robust analysis with respect to stiffness and mass matrices perturbation and time delay of actuator is performed. Numerical simulation results show that the control performance of the proposed control system is superior to that of the passive system and slightly better than that of the active and semiactive systems and two hybrid systems show similar control performances. Furthermore, the hybrid system controlled by a μ-synthesis method shows the good robustness without loss of control performances. Therefore, the proposed control system could effectively be used to seismically excited cable-stayed bridge which contains many uncertainties.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.141-168
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• 2012

The Retrofit Yield Spectrum (RYS) is a new spectrum-based device that relates seismic demand of a retrofitted structure with the fundamental design parameters of the retrofit. This is obtained from superposition of Yield Point Spectra with design charts that summarize in pertinent spectrum-compatible coordinates the attributes of a number of alternative retrofit scenarios. Therefore, once the requirements for upgrading a given structure have been determined, the RYS enable direct insight of the sensitivity of the seismic response of the upgraded structure to the preliminary design decisions made while establishing the retrofit plan. By virtue of their spectrum-based origin, RYS are derived with reference to a single mode of structural vibration; a primary objective is to control the contribution of this mode in the retrofit design so as to produce a desirable distribution of damage at the ultimate limit state by removing soft storey formations and engaging the maximum number of structural members in deformation, in response to the input motion. Calculations are performed with reference to the yield-point, where secant stiffness is proportional to the flexural strength of reinforced concrete members. Derivation and use of the Retrofit Yield Spectra (RYS) refers to the seismic demand expressed either in terms of spectral acceleration, spectral displacement or interstory drift, at yield of the first storey. A reinforced concrete building that has been tested in full scale to a sequence of simulated earthquake excitations is used in the paper as a demonstration case study to examine the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.307-318
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• 2019

The frequently excessive vibrations presented in civil structures during seismic events or service conditions may result in users' discomfort, or worst, in structures failure, producing economic and even human casualties. This work contributes in proposing the synthesis of a nonlinear optimal control strategy for semiactive structural control, with the main characteristic that the synthesis considers both the structure model and the semiactive actuator nonlinear dynamics, which produces a nonlinear system that requires a nonlinear controller design. The aim is to reduce the unwanted vibrations in the response of civil structures, by means of intelligent fluid semiactive actuator such as the Magnetorheological Damper (MRD), which is a device with a low level of power consumption. The civil structures for which the proposed control methodology can be applied are those admitting a state-dependent coefficient factorized representation model, such as buildings, bridges, among others. A scaled model of a three storey building is analyzed as a case study, whose dynamical response involves displacement, velocity and acceleration of each one of the storeys, subjected to the North-South component of the September 19th., 2017, Puebla-Morelos (7.1M), Mexico earthquake. The investigation rests on comparing the structural response over time for two different conditions: with no control device installed and with one MRD installed between the first floor and the ground, where a nonlinear optimal signal for the MRD input voltage is determined. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller for reducing the building's dynamical response.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2022

Recently, machine learning is widely used to solve optimization problems in various engineering fields. In this study, machine learning is applied to development of a control algorithm for a smart control device for reduction of seismic responses. For this purpose, Deep Q-network (DQN) out of reinforcement learning algorithms was employed to develop control algorithm. A single degree of freedom (SDOF) structure with a smart tuned mass damper (TMD) was used as an example structure. A smart TMD system was composed of MR (magnetorheological) damper instead of passive damper. Reward design of reinforcement learning mainly affects the control performance of the smart TMD. Various hyper-parameters were investigated to optimize the control performance of DQN-based control algorithm. Usually, decrease of the time step for numerical simulation is desirable to increase the accuracy of simulation results. However, the numerical simulation results presented that decrease of the time step for reward calculation might decrease the control performance of DQN-based control algorithm. Therefore, a proper time step for reward calculation should be selected in a DQN training process.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.247-258
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• 2023

Multiple pounding tuned rolling mass damper (MPTRMD) distributed in the cavity of voided slabs is proposed to passively control multi-story frame structures, which disperses the mass of the oscillator to multiple dampers so that the control device can be miniaturized without affecting the vibration control performance. The mechanism and the differential motion equations of the MPTRMD-controlled multi-degree-of-freedom system are derived based on the Lagrange principle. Afterward, this advanced RMD is applied to a simplified 20-floor steel frame to evaluate the seismic control performance in the numerical analysis. A four-storey frame structure equipped with MPTRMD is then taken for a shaking table test to verify its effectiveness of control performance. The pounding mechanism has been detailed studied numerically and experimentally as well. The numerical and experimental results show that the proposed damper is practically promising not only for its prominent control performance but also for its lightweight and space-saving. Additionally, the pounding mechanism influenced by the variable impact parameters exhibits a balance between the two effects of motional limitations and energy dissipation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.359-371
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• 2018

Strong seismic events commonly cause large drift and deformation, and functionality failures in the superstructures. One way to prevent functionality failures is to design structures which are ductile and flexible through yielding when subjected to strong ground excitations. By developing forces that assist motion as "negative stiffness forces", yielding can be achieved. In this paper, we adopt the weakening and damping method to achieve a new approach to reduce all of the structural responses by further adjusting damping phase. A semi-active control system is adopted to perform the experiments. In this adaptation, negative stiffness forces through certain devices are used in weakening phase to reduce structural strength. Magneto-rheological (MR) dampers are then added to preserve stability of the structure. To adjust the voltage in MR dampers, an inverse model is employed in the control system to command MR dampers and generate the desired control forces, where a velocity control algorithm produces initial required control force. An extensive numerical study is conducted to evaluate proposed methodology by using the smart base-isolated benchmark building. Totally, nine control systems are examined to study proposed strategy. Based on the numerical results of seven earthquakes, the use of proposed strategy not only reduces base displacements, base accelerations and base shear but also leads to reduction of accelerations and inter story drifts of the superstructure. Numerical results shows that the usage of inverse model produces the desired regulated damping, thus improving the stability of the structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.147-161
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• 2022

The Brace-Type Shear Fuse (BSF) device is a newly proposed steel damper with excellent cumulative ductility and stable energy dissipation. In consideration of the current situation where there are not many alternatives for transversal seismic devices used in long-span three-tower self-anchored bridges (TSSBs), this paper implements improved BSFs into the world's longest TSSB, named Jinan Fenghuang Yellow River Bridge. The new details of the BSF are developed for the TSSB, and the force-displacement hysteretic curves of the BSFs are obtained using finite element (FE) simulations. A three-dimensional refined finite element model for the research TSSB was established in SAP2000, and the effects of BSFs on dynamic characteristics and seismic response of the TSSB under different site conditions were investigated by the numerical simulation method. The results show that remarkable controlling effects of BSFs on seismic response of TSSBs under different site conditions were obtained. Compared with the case without BSFs, the TSSB installed with BSFs has mitigation ratios of the tower top displacement, lateral girder displacement, tower bending moment and tower shear force exceeding 95%, 78%, 330% and 346%, respectively. Meanwhile, BSFs have a sufficient restoring force mechanism with a minor post-earthquake residual displacement. The proposed BSFs exhibit good application prospects in long-span TSSBs.