• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.409-424
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• 2015

Structural nonlinearity is a common phenomenon encountered in engineering structures under severe dynamic loading. It is necessary to localize and identify structural nonlinearities using structural dynamic measurements for damage detection and performance evaluation of structures. However, identification of nonlinear structural systems is a difficult task, especially when proper mathematical models for structural nonlinear behaviors are not available. In prior studies on nonparametric identification of nonlinear structures, the locations of structural nonlinearities are usually assumed known and all structural responses are measured. In this paper, an identification algorithm is proposed for locating and identifying model-free structural nonlinearities and systems using incomplete measurements of structural responses. First, equivalent linear structural systems are established and identified by the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The locations of structural nonlinearities are identified. Then, the model-free structural nonlinear restoring forces are approximated by power series polynomial models. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is utilized to identify structural nonlinear restoring forces and structural systems. Both numerical simulation examples and experimental test of a multi-story shear building with a MR damper are used to validate the proposed algorithm.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.291-304
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• 2015

Compared with the identification of linear structures, it is more challenging to conduct identification of nonlinear structure systems, especially when the locations of structural nonlinearities are not clear in structural systems. Moreover, it is highly desirable to develop methods of parametric identification using partial measurements of structural responses for practical application. To cope with these issues, an identification method is proposed in this paper for the detection and parametric identification of structural nonlinear restoring forces using only partial measurements of structural responses. First, an equivalent linear structural system is proposed for a nonlinear structure and the locations of structural nonlinearities are detected. Then, the parameters of structural nonlinear restoring forces at the locations of identified structural nonlinearities together with the linear part structural parameters are identified by the extended Kalman filter. The proposed method simplifies the identification of nonlinear structures. Numerical examples of the identification of two nonlinear multi-story shear frames and a planar nonlinear truss with different nonlinear models and locations are used to validate the proposed method.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.117-126
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• 2001

In this study, the recently developed unscented Kalman filter (UKF) technique is studied for identification of nonlinear structural dynamic systems as an alternative to the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The EKF, which was originally developed as a state estimator for nonlinear systems, has been frequently employed for parameter identification by introducing the state vector augmented with the unknown parameters to be identified. However, the EKF has several drawbacks such as biased estimations and erroneous estimations especially for highly nonlinear dynamic systems due to its crude linearization scheme. To overcome the weak points of the EKF, the UKF was recently developed as a state estimator. Numerical simulation studies have been carried out on nonlinear SDOF system and nonlinear MDOF system. The results from a series of numerical simulations indicate that the UKF is superior to the EKF in the system identification of nonlinear dynamic systems especially highly nonlinear systems.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.711-725
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• 2018

Most of the practical engineering structures exhibit nonlinearity due to nonlinear dynamic characteristics of structural joints, nonlinear boundary conditions and nonlinear material properties. Hence, it is highly desirable to detect and characterize the nonlinearity present in the system in order to assess the true behaviour of the structural system. Further, these identified nonlinear features can be effectively used for damage diagnosis during structural health monitoring. In this paper, we focus on the detection of the nonlinearity present in the system by confining our discussion to only a few selective time-frequency analysis and multivariate analysis based techniques. Both damage induced nonlinearity and inherent structural nonlinearity in healthy systems are considered. The strengths and weakness of various techniques for nonlinear detection are investigated through numerically simulated two different classes of nonlinear problems. These numerical results are complemented with the experimental data to demonstrate its suitability to the practical problems.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.180-189
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• 2001

In this study, recently developed unscented Kalman filter (UKF) technique is studied for identification of nonlinear structural dynamic systems as an alternative to the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The EKF, which was originally developed as a state estimator for nonlinear systems, has been frequently employed for parameter identification by introducing the state vector augmented with the unknown parameters to be identified. However, the EKF has several drawbacks such as biased estimations and erroneous estimations especially for highly nonlinear dynamic systems due to its crude linearization scheme. To overcome the weak points of the EKF, the UKF was recently developed as a state estimator. Numerical simulation studies have been carried out on nonlinear SDOF system and nonlinear MDOF system. The results from a series of numerical simulations indicate that the UKF is superior to the EKF in the system identification of nonlinear dynamic systems especially highly nonlinear systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.915-934
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• 2015

Within the context of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), it is often the case that structural systems are described by uncertainty, both with respect to their parameters and the characteristics of the input loads. For the purposes of system identification, efficient modeling procedures are of the essence for a fast and reliable computation of structural response while taking these uncertainties into account. In this work, a reduced order metamodeling framework is introduced for the challenging case of nonlinear structural systems subjected to earthquake excitation. The introduced metamodeling method is based on Nonlinear AutoRegressive models with eXogenous input (NARX), able to describe nonlinear dynamics, which are moreover characterized by random parameters utilized for the description of the uncertainty propagation. These random parameters, which include characteristics of the input excitation, are expanded onto a suitably defined finite-dimensional Polynomial Chaos (PC) basis and thus the resulting representation is fully described through a small number of deterministic coefficients of projection. The effectiveness of the proposed PC-NARX method is illustrated through its implementation on the metamodeling of a five-storey shear frame model paradigm for response in the region of plasticity, i.e., outside the commonly addressed linear elastic region. The added contribution of the introduced scheme is the ability of the proposed methodology to incorporate uncertainty into the simulation. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methodology for accurate prediction and simulation of the numerical model dynamics with a vast reduction of the required computational toll.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.847-862
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• 2015

Typical base isolated buildings are designed so that the superstructure remains elastic in design-level earthquakes, though the isolation layer is often quite nonlinear using, e.g., hysteretic elements such as lead-rubber bearings and friction pendulum bearings. Similarly, other well-performing structural control systems keep the structure within the linear range except during the most extreme of excitations. Design optimization of these isolators or other structural control systems requires computationally-expensive response simulations of the (mostly or fully) linear structural system with the nonlinear structural control devices. Standard nonlinear structural analysis algorithms ignore the localized nature of these nonlinearities when computing responses. This paper proposes an approach for the computationally-efficient optimal design of passive isolators by extending a methodology previously developed by the authors for accelerating the response calculation of mostly linear systems with local features (linear or nonlinear, deterministic or random). The methodology is explained and applied to a numerical example of a base isolated building with a hysteretic isolation layer. The computational efficiency of the proposed approach is shown to be significant for this simple problem, and is expected to be even more dramatic for more complex systems.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.3
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• pp.331-337
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• 2020

This paper proposes a new approximate analytical solution for highly nonlinear vibration of mechanical systems called Hamiltonian Approach (HA) that can be widely use for structural health monitoring systems. The complete procedure of the HA approach is studied, and the precise application of the presented approach is surveyed by two familiar nonlinear partial differential problems. The nonlinear frequency of the considered systems is obtained. The results of the HA are verified with the numerical solution using Runge-Kutta's [RK] algorithm. It is established the only one iteration of the HA leads us to the high accurateness of the solution.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.451-464
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• 2013

This study develops an extended inverse input estimation algorithm with intelligent adaptive fuzzy weighting to effectively estimate the unknown input wind load of nonlinear structural systems. This algorithm combines the extended Kalman filter and recursive least squares estimator with intelligent adaptive fuzzy weighting. This study investigated the unknown input wind load applied on a tower structural system. Nonlinear characteristics will exist in various structural systems. The nonlinear characteristics are particularly more obvious when applying larger input wind load. Numerical simulation cases involving different input wind load types are studied in this paper. The simulation results verify the nonlinear characteristics of the structural system. This algorithm is effective in estimating unknown input wind loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2009

A non-clipped semi-active stochastic optimal control strategy for nonlinear structural systems with MR dampers is developed based on the stochastic averaging method and stochastic dynamical programming principle. A nonlinear stochastic control structure is first modeled as a semi-actively controlled, stochastically excited and dissipated Hamiltonian system. The control force of an MR damper is separated into passive and semi-active parts. The passive control force components, coupled in structural mode space, are incorporated in the drift coefficients by directly using the stochastic averaging method. Then the stochastic dynamical programming principle is applied to establish a dynamical programming equation, from which the semi-active optimal control law is determined and implementable by MR dampers without clipping in terms of the Bingham model. Under the condition on the control performance function given in section 3, the expressions of nonlinear and linear non-clipped semi-active optimal control force components are obtained as well as the non-clipped semi-active LQG control force, and thus the value function and semi-active nonlinear optimal control force are actually existent according to the developed strategy. An example of the controlled stochastic hysteretic column is given to illustrate the application and effectiveness of the developed semi-active optimal control strategy.