• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.809-828
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• 2008

Real-time hybrid testing is an attractive method to evaluate the response of structures under earthquake loads. The method is a variation of the pseudodynamic testing technique in which the experiment is executed in real time, thus allowing investigation of structural systems with time-dependent components. Real-time hybrid testing is challenging because it requires performance of all calculations, application of displacements, and acquisition of measured forces, within a very small increment of time. Furthermore, unless appropriate compensation for time delays and actuator time lag is implemented, stability problems are likely to occur during the experiment. This paper presents an approach for real-time hybrid testing in which time delay/lag compensation is implemented using model-based response prediction. The efficacy of the proposed strategy is verified by conducting substructure real-time hybrid testing of a steel frame under earthquake loads. For the initial set of experiments, a specimen with linear-elastic behavior is used. Experimental results agree well with the analytical solution and show that the proposed approach and testing system are capable of achieving a time-scale expansion factor of one (i.e., real time). Additionally, the proposed method allows accurate testing of structures with larger frequencies than when using conventional time delay compensation methods, thus extending the capabilities of the real-time hybrid testing technique. The method is then used to test a structure with a rate-dependent energy dissipation device, a magnetorheological damper. Results show good agreement with the predicted responses, demonstrating the effectiveness of the method to test rate-dependent components.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1269-1289
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• 2014

With the sub-stepping technique, the numerical analysis in real-time dynamic hybrid testing is split into the response analysis and signal generation tasks. Two target computers that operate in real-time may be assigned to implement these two tasks, respectively, for fully extending the simulation scale of the numerical substructure. In this case, the integration time-step of solving the dynamic response of the numerical substructure can be dozens of times bigger than the sampling time-step of the controller. The time delay between the real and desired feedback forces becomes more striking, which challenges the well-developed delay compensation methods in real-time dynamic hybrid testing. This paper focuses on displacement prediction and force correction for delay compensation in the real-time dynamic hybrid testing with a large integration time-step. A new displacement prediction scheme is proposed based on recently-developed explicit integration algorithms and compared with several commonly-used prediction procedures. The evaluation of its prediction accuracy is carried out theoretically, numerically and experimentally. Results indicate that the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed prediction method are of significance.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1105-1129
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• 2014

The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) has been developed for nonlinear model parametric identification, and it assumes that the model parameters are symmetrically distributed about their mean values without any constrains. However, the parameters in many applications are confined within certain ranges to make sense physically. In this paper, a constrained unscented Kalman filter (CUKF) algorithm is proposed to improve accuracy of numerical substructure modeling in hybrid testing. During hybrid testing, the numerical models of numerical substructures which are assumed identical to the physical substructures are updated online with the CUKF approach based on the measurement data from physical substructures. The CUKF method adopts sigma points (i.e., sample points) projecting strategy, with which the positions and weights of sigma points violating constraints are modified. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid testing method is verified by pure numerical simulation and real-time as well as slower hybrid tests with nonlinear specimens. The results show that the new method has better accuracy compared to conventional hybrid testing with fixed numerical model and hybrid testing based on model updating with UKF.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

The investigation on vehicle-bridge coupling system (VBCS) is crucial in bridge design, bridge condition evaluation, and vehicle overload control. A real-time hybrid testing (RTHT) method for VBCS (RTHT-VBCS) is proposed in this paper for accurately and economically disclosing the dynamic performance of VBCSs. In the proposed method, one of the carriages is chosen as the experimental substructure loaded by servo-hydraulic actuator loading system in the laboratory, and the remaining carriages as well as the bridge structure are chosen as the numerical substructure numerically simulated in one computer. The numerical substructure and the experimental substructure are synchronized at their coupling points in terms of force equilibrium and deformation compatibility. Compared to the traditional iteration experimental method and the numerical simulation method, the proposed RTHT-VBCS method could not only obtain the dynamic response of VBCS, but also economically analyze various working conditions. Firstly, the theory of RTHT-VBCS is proposed. Secondly, numerical models of VBCS for RTHT method are presented. Finally, the feasibility and accuracy of the RTHT-VBCS are preliminarily validated by real-time hybrid simulations (RTHSs). It is shown that, the proposed RTHT-VBCS is feasible and shows great advantages over the traditional methods, and the proposed models can effectively represent the VBCS for RTHT method in terms of the force equilibrium and deformation compatibility at the coupling point. It is shown that the results of the single-degree-of-freedom model and the train vehicle model are match well with the referenced results. The RTHS results preliminarily prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed RTHT-VBCS.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.103-111
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• 2017

The real time scheduling is a key research area in high performance computing and has been a source of challenging problems. A periodic task is an infinite sequence of task instance where each job of a task comes in a regular period. The RMS (Rate Monotonic Scheduling) algorithm has the advantage of a strong theoretical foundation and holds out the promise of reducing the need for exhaustive testing of the scheduling. Many real-time systems built in the past based their scheduling on the Cyclic Executive Model because it produces predictable schedules which facilitate exhaustive testing. In this work we propose hybrid scheduling method which combines features of both of these scheduling algorithms. The original rate monotonic scheduling algorithm didn't consider the uniform sampling tasks in the real time systems. We have enumerated some issues when the RMS is applied to our hybrid scheduling method. We found the scheduling bound for the hard real-time systems which include the uniform sampling tasks. The suggested hybrid scheduling algorithm turns out to have some advantages from the point of view of the real time system designer, and is particularly useful in the context of large critical systems. Our algorithm can be useful for real time system designer who must guarantee the hard real time tasks.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.465-474
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• 2008

The real-time hybrid testing method(RT-HYTEM) is a structural testing technique in which the numerical integration of the equation of motion for a numerical substructure and the physical testing for an experimental substructure are performed simultaneously in real-time. This study presents the quantitative evaluation of the seismic performance of a building structure installed with an passive and semi-active MR damper by using RT-HYTEM. The building model that was identified from the force-vibration testing results of a real-scaled 5-story building is used as the numerical substructure, and an MR damper corresponding to an experimental substructure is physically tested by using the universal testing machine(UTM). The RT-HYTEM implemented in this study is validated because the real-time hybrid testing results obtained by application of sinusoidal and earthquake excitations and the corresponding analytical results obtained by using the Bouc-Wen model as the control force of the MR damper respect to input currents were in good agreement. Also for preliminary study, some semi-active control algorithms were applied to the MR damper in order to control the structural responses optimally. Comparing between the test results of semi-active control using RT-HYTEM and numerical analysis results show that the RT-HYTEM is more resonable than numerical analysis to evaluate the performance of semi-active control algorithms.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.349-358
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• 2023

Real-Time Hybrid Testing (RTHT) requires the numerical substructure calculations to be completed within the defined integration time interval due to its real-time loading demands. For solving the problem, A Real-Time Hybrid Testing based on Restart-Loading Technology (RTHT-RLT) is proposed in this paper. In the proposed method, in case of the numerical substructure calculations cannot be completed within the defined integration time interval, the experimental substructure was returned back to the initial state statically. When the newest loading commands were calculated by the numerical substructure, the experimental substructure was restarted loading from the initial state to the newest loading commands so as to precisely disclosing the dynamic performance of the experimental substructure. Firstly, the methodology of the RTHT-RLT is proposed. Furthermore, the numerical simulations and experimental tests on one frame structure with a viscous damper are conducted for evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed RTHT-RLT. It is shown that the proposed RTHT-RLT innovatively renders the nonreal-time refined calculation of the numerical substructure feasible for the RTHT. The numerical and experimental results show that the proposed RTHT-RLT exhibits excellent performance in terms of stability and accuracy. The proposed RTHT-RLT may have broad application prospects for precisely investigating the dynamic behavior of large and complex engineering structures with specific experimental substructure where a restarting procedure does not affect the relevant hysteretic response.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1005-1030
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• 2014

The need for assessing dynamic response of typical industrial piping systems subjected to seismic loading motivated the authors to apply model reduction techniques to experimental dynamic substructuring. Initially, a better insight into the dynamic response of the emulated system was provided by means of the principal component analysis. The clear understanding of reduction basis requirements paved the way for the implementation of a number of model reduction techniques aimed at extending the applicability range of the hybrid testing technique beyond its traditional scope. Therefore, several hybrid simulations were performed on a typical full-scale industrial piping system endowed with a number of critical components, like elbows, Tee joints and bolted flange joints, ranging from operational to collapse limit states. Then, the favourable performance of the L-Stable Real-Time compatible time integrator and an effective delay compensation method were also checked throughout the testing campaign. Finally, several aspects of the piping performance were commented and conclusions drawn.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.669-673
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• 2007

In this study, real-time hybrid test using a shaking table for the control performance evaluation of a U-shaped TLCD controlling the response of earthquake-excited building structure is experimentally implemented. In the test, the building structure is used as a numerical part, on which a U-shaped TLCD adopted as an experimental part was installed to reduceits response. At first, the force that is acting between a TLCD and building structure is measured from the load cell attached on shaking table and is fed-back to the computer to control the motion of shaking table. Then, the shaking table is so driven that the error between the interface acceleration computed from the numerical building structure with the excitations of earthquake and the fed-back interface force and that measured from the shaking table. The control efficiency of the TLCD used in this paper is experimentally confirmed by implementing this process of shaking table experiment on real-time.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1081-1103
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• 2014

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) has emerged as an important tool for testing large and complex structures with a focus on rate-dependent specimen behavior. Due to the real-time constraints, accurate dynamic control of servo-hydraulic actuators is required. These actuators are necessary to realize the desired displacements of the specimen, however they introduce unwanted dynamics into the RTHS loop. Model-based actuator control strategies are based on linearized models of the servo-hydraulic system, where the controller is taken as the model inverse to effectively cancel out the servo-hydraulic dynamics (i.e., model-based feedforward control). An accurate model of a servo-hydraulic system generally contains more poles than zeros, leading to an improper inverse (i.e., more zeros than poles). Rather than introduce additional poles to create a proper inverse controller, the higher order derivatives necessary for implementing the improper inverse can be calculated from available information. The backward-difference method is proposed as an alternative to discretize an improper continuous time model for use as a feedforward controller in RTHS. This method is flexible in that derivatives of any order can be explicitly calculated such that controllers can be developed for models of any order. Using model-based feedforward control with the backward-difference method, accurate actuator control and stable RTHS are demonstrated using a nine-story steel building model implemented with an MR damper.