• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1-12
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• 2012

The researches related to active control systems utilizing superelastic shape memory alloys (SMA) have been recently conducted to reduce critical damage due to lateral deformation after severe earthquakes. Although Superelastic SMAs undergo considerable inelastic deformation, they can return to original conditions without heat treatment only after stress removal. We can expect the mitigation of residual deformation owing to inherent recentering characteristics when these smart materials are installed at the part where large deformation is likely to occur. Therefore, the primary purpose of this research is to develop concentrically braced frames (CBFs) with superelastic SMA bracing systems and to evaluate the seismic performance of such frame structures. In order to investigate the inter-story drift response of CBF structures, 3- and 6-story buildings were design according to current design specifications, and then nonlinear time-history analyses were performed on numerical 2D frame models. Based on the numerical analysis results, it can be comparatively verified that the CBFs with superelastic SMA bracing systems have more structural advantages in terms of energy dissipation and recentering behavior than those with conventional steel bracing systems.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.205-217
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• 2011

This article describes the research work involving the implementation of an Active Bracing System aimed at the modification of the initial dynamics of a laboratorial building structure to a new desired dynamics. By means of an adequate control force it is possible to assign an entirely new dynamics to a system by moving its natural frequencies and damping ratios to different values with the purpose of achieving a better overall structural response to external loads. In Civil Engineering applications, the most common procedures for controlling vibrations in structures include changing natural frequencies in order to avoid resonance phenomena and increasing the damping ratios of the critical vibration modes. In this study, the actual implementation of an active system is demonstrated, which is able to perform such modifications in a wide frequency range; to this end, a plane frame physical model with 4 degrees-of-freedom is used. The Active Bracing System developed is actuated by a linear motor controlled by an algorithm based on pole assignment strategy. The efficiency of this control system is verified experimentally by analyzing the control effect obtained with the modification of the initial dynamic parameters of the plane frame and observing the subsequent structural response.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.633-656
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• 2001

In this paper, modal control with direct output feedback is formulated in a systematic manner for easy implementation. Its application to the seismic protection of structural systems is verified by a shaking table test, which involves a full-scale building model and an active bracing system as the control device. Two modal control cases, namely, one full-state feedback and one direct output feedback control were tested and compared. The experimental result shows that in mitigating the seismic response of building structures, modal control with direct output feedback can be as effective and efficient as that with full-state feedback control. For practical concerns, the control performance of the proposed method in the presence of sensor noise and stiffness modeling error was also investigated. The numerical result shows that although the control force may be increased, the maximum floor displacements of the controlled structure are very insensitive to sensor noise and modeling error.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2016

High-rise buildings are increasingly viewed as having both technical and economic advantages, especially in areas of high population density. Increasingly taller buildings are being built worldwide. Increased heights entail increasing flexibility, which can result in serviceability problems associated with significant displacements and accelerations at higher floors. The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of a versatile vibration control technology (MR dampers with bracings) that can be used in super tall buildings. The proposed technology is shown to be effective, from a serviceability point of view, as well as resulting in dramatically reduced design wind loads, thus creating more resilient and sustainable buildings.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.157-179
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• 2013

We present an approach, based on the state dependent Riccati equation, for designing non-collocated seismic response control strategies for buildings accounting for physical constraints, with particular attention to force saturation. We consider both cases of active control using general actuators and semi-active control using magnetorheological dampers. The formulation includes multi control devices, acceleration feedback and time delay compensation. In the active case, the proposed approach is a generalization of the classic linear quadratic regulator, while, in the semi-active case, it represents a novel generalization of the well-established modified clipped optimal approach. As discussed in the paper, the main advantage of the proposed approach with respect to existing strategies is that it allows to naturally handle a broad class of non-linearities as well as different types of control constraints, not limited to force saturation but also including, for instance, displacement limitations. Numerical results on a typical building benchmark problem demonstrate that these additional features are achieved with essentially the same control effectiveness of existing saturation control strategies.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.963-995
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• 2015

The effectiveness of the various control algorithms for semi-active structural control systems proposed in the literature is highly questionable when dealing with earthquake actions, which never reach a steady state. From this perspective, the paper summarizes the results of an experimental activity aimed to compare the effectiveness of four different semi-active control algorithms on a structural mock up representative of a class of structural systems particularly prone to seismic actions. The controlled structure is a near full scale 2-story steel frame, equipped with two semi-active bracing systems including two magnetorheological dampers designed and manufactured in Europe. A set of earthquake records has been applied at the base of the structure, by utilizing a shaking table facility. Experimental results are compared in terms of displacements, absolute accelerations and energy dissipation capability. A further analysis on the percentage incidence of undesired and/or unpredictable operations corresponding to each algorithm gives an insight on some factors affecting the reliability and, in turn, the real effectiveness of semi-active structural control systems.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.229-240
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• 2020

In this research, toggled actuator forces were examined. For achieving to this object, an actuator was installed in a toggle pattern in a S.D.O.F frame and actuator forces were investigated thru a numerical analysis process. Within past twenty years, researchers tried to use strong bracing systems as well as huge dampers to stabilize tall buildings during intensive earthquakes. Eventually, utilizing of active control systems containing actuators to counter massive excitations in structures was emerged. However, the more powerful earthquake excitations, the more robust actuators were required to be installed in the system. Subsequently, the latter process made disadvantage to the active control system due to very high price of the robust actuators as well as their large demands for electricity. Therefore, through a numerical process (Part I), influence of toggled actuator pattern was investigated. The algorithm used in the system was LQR and ATmega328 was selected as a control platform. For comparison, active tendon control system was chosen. The final results show clearly that using the toggle pattern mitigates the required actuator forces enormously leading to deploy much lighter actuators.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.107-120
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• 2022

The bracing members capable of active control against seismic loads to reduce earthquake damage have been widely utilized in construction projects. Effectively reducing the structural damage caused by earthquake events, bracing systems equipped with retrofitting damper devices, which take advantage of the energy dissipation and impact absorption, have been widely used in practical construction sites. Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are a new generation of smart materials with the capability of recovering their predefined shape after experiencing a large strain. This is mainly due to the shape memory effects and the superelasticity of SMA. These properties make SMA an excellent alternative to be used in passive, semi-active, and active control systems in civil engineering applications. In this research, a new system in diagonal braces with slit damper combined with SMA is investigated. The diagonal element under the effect of tensile and compressive force turns to shear force in the slit damper and creates tension in the SMA. Therefore, by creating shear forces in the damper, it leads to yield and increases the energy absorption capacity of the system. The purpose of using SMA, in addition to increasing the stiffness and strength of the system, is to create reversibility for the system. According to the results, the highest capacity is related to the case where the ratio of the width of the middle section to the width of the end section (b₁/b) is 1.0 and the ratio of the height of the middle part to the total height of the damper (h₁/h) is 0.1. This is mainly because in this case, the damper section has the highest cross-section. In contrast, the lowest capacity is related to the case where b₁/b=0.1 and the ratio h₁/h=0.8.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.667-684
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• 2008

Numerous devices exist for reducing or eliminating seismic damage to structures. These include passive dampers, semi-active dampers, and active control devices. The performance of structural systems with these devices has often been evaluated using numerical simulations. Experiments on structural systems with these devices, particularly at large-scale, are lacking. This paper describes a real-time hybrid testing facility that has been developed at the Lehigh University NEES Equipment Site. The facility enables real-time large-scale experiments to be performed on structural systems with rate-dependent devices, thereby permitting a more complete evaluation of the seismic performance of the devices and their effectiveness in seismic hazard reduction. The hardware and integrated control architecture for hybrid testing developed at the facility are presented. An application involving the use of passive elastomeric dampers in a three story moment resisting frame subjected to earthquake ground motions is presented. The experiment focused on a test structure consisting of the damper and diagonal bracing, which was coupled to a nonlinear analytical model of the remaining part of the structure (i.e., the moment resisting frame). A tracking indictor is used to track the actuator ability to achieve the command displacement during a test, enabling the quality of the test results to be assessed. An extension of the testbed to the real-time hybrid testing of smart structures with semi-active dampers is described.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.632-638
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• 2014

Nowadays, as part of an effort to increase the efficiency of propulsion shafting system, the revolution of the main diesel engine in CMCR(Contract Maximum Continuous Rating) is reduced whereas the stiffness of hull structure supporting the main diesel engine is relatively flexible. However, vibration problems related with resonant response of main diesel engine are increasing although top bracing is installed between the main diesel engine and the hull structures to increase natural frequency of engine body above CMCR to avoid resonant phenomenon. In this study, the dynamic characteristic of top bracing is reviewed by analyzing measuring results of general cargo ships which apply the hydraulic type instead of the friction type to control the natural frequency and the vibration of the engine body. Moreover, considering the vibration characteristic of the engine body and the hydraulic type of the top bracing by varying the number of top bracing, authors suggest the more effective way to control the vibration of the engine body despite of lower stiffness of the hull structure than in the past when the hydraulic type of top bracing is used.