• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.11-24
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• 2011

A real-time hybrid test of a 3 story-3 bay reinforced concrete frame which is divided into numerical and physical substructure models under uniaxial earthquake excitation was run using a fixed iteration implicit HHT time integration method. The first story inner non-ductile column was selected as the physical substructure model, and uniaxial earthquake excitation was applied to the numerical model until the specimen failed due to severe damage. A finite-element analysis program, Mercury, was newly developed and optimized for a real-time hybrid test. The drift ratio based on the top horizontal displacement of the physical substructure model was compared with the result of a numerical simulation by OpenSees and the result of a shaking table test. The experiment in this paper is one of the most complex real-time hybrid tests, and the description of the hardware, algorithm and models is presented in detail. If there is an improvement in the numerical model, the evaluation of the tangent stiffness matrix of the physical substructure model in the finite element analysis program and better software to reduce the computational time of the element state determination for the force-based beam-column element, then the comparison with the results of the real-time hybrid test and the shaking table test deserves to make a recommendation. In addition, for the goal of a "Numerical simulation of the complex structures under dynamic loading", the real time hybrid test has enough merit as an alternative to dynamic experiments of large and complex structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.299-307
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• 2017

High Damping Rubber bearings (HDR bearings) have been used in the seismic design of bridge structures widely in China. In earthquakes, structural natural periods will be extended, seismic energy will be dissipated by this kind of bearing. Previously, cyclic loading method was used mainly for test studies on mechanical properties of HDR bearings, which cannot simulate real seismic responses. In this paper, Real-Time Substructure (RTS) test study on mechanical properties of HDR bearings was conducted and it was found that the loading rate effect was not negligible. Then the influence of peak acceleration of ground motion was studied. At last test results were compared with a numerical simulation in the OpenSees software framework with the Kikuchi model. It is found that the Kikuchi model can simulate real mechanical properties of HDR bearings in earthquakes accurately.

• 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.25 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2020

This paper demonstrates a real-time hybrid substructuring (RTHS) shake table test to evaluate the seismic performance of a base isolated building. Since RTHS involves a feedback loop in the test implementation, the frequency dependent magnitude and inherent time delay of the actuator dynamics can introduce inaccuracy and instability. The paper presents a robust stability and performance analysis method for the RTHS test. The robust stability method involves casting the actuator dynamics as a multiplicative uncertainty and applying the small gain theorem to derive the sufficient conditions for robust stability and performance. The attractive feature of this robust stability and performance analysis method is that it accommodates linearized modeled or measured frequency response functions for both the physical substructure and actuator dynamics. Significant experimental research has been conducted on base isolators and dampers toward developing high fidelity numerical models. Shake table testing, where the building superstructure is tested while the isolation layer is numerically modeled, can allow for a range of isolation strategies to be examined for a single shake table experiment. Further, recent concerns in base isolation for long period, long duration earthquakes necessitate adding damping at the isolation layer, which can allow higher frequency energy to be transmitted into the superstructure and can result in damage to structural and nonstructural components that can be difficult to numerically model and accurately predict. As such, physical testing of the superstructure while numerically modeling the isolation layer may be desired. The RTHS approach has been previously proposed for base isolated buildings, however, to date it has not been conducted on a base isolated structure isolated at the ground level and where the isolation layer itself is numerically simulated. This configuration provides multiple challenges in the RTHS stability associated with higher physical substructure frequencies and a low numerical to physical mass ratio. This paper demonstrates a base isolated RTHS test and the robust stability and performance analysis necessary to ensure the stability and accuracy. The tests consist of a scaled idealized 4-story superstructure building model placed directly onto a shake table and the isolation layer simulated in MATLAB/Simulink using a dSpace real-time controller.

• 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.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.443-453
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• 2013

The hybrid test is one of the most advanced test methods to predict the structural dynamic behavior with the interaction between a physical substructure and a numerical modeling in the hybrid control system. The purpose of this study is to perform the multi-directional dynamic test of a steel frame structure with the real-time hybrid system and to evaluate the validation of the results. In this study, FEAPH, nonlinear finite element analysis program for hybrid only, was developed and the hybrid control system was optimized. The inefficient computational time was improved with a fixed number iteration method and parallel computational techniques used in FEAPH. Furthermore, the previously used data communication method and the interface between a substructure and an analysis program were simplified in the control system. As the results, the total processing time in real-time hybrid test was shortened up to 10 times of actual measured seismic period. In order to verify the accuracy and validation of the hybrid system, the linear and nonlinear dynamic tests with a steel framed structure were carried out so that the trend of displacement responses was almost in accord with the numerical results. However, the maximum displacement responses had somewhat differences due to the analysis errors in material nonlinearities and the occurrence of permanent displacements. Therefore, if the proper material model and numerical algorithms are developed, the real-time hybrid system could be used to evaluate the structural dynamic behavior and would be an effective testing method as a substitute for a shaking table test.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1891-1901
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• 2005

Recently the authors tried to find damage position only using measured frequency response functions. According to their work, it seems that the algorithm is very practical since it needs only measured frequency responses while other methods require exact analytic model. But when applying the method to a real structure, it requires lots of experiment. The authors, in this time, propose a method to reduce its experimental load by detecting damage within a substructure. This method searches damages not within an entire structure but within substructures. In addition, damage severity was treated in this paper since it is worthy to know damage severity. Optimization technique is used to estimate damage level using measured responses and damage model. Two test examples, a plate and a jointed structure, are chosen to verify the suggesting method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.189-194
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• 2007

An experimental real-time hybrid method, which implements the wind response control of a building structure with only a two-way TLMD, is proposed and verified through a shaking table test. The building structure is divided into the upper experimental TLMD and the lower numerical structural part. The shaking table vibrates the TLMD with the response calculated from the numerical substructure, which is subjected to the excitations of the measured interface control force at its top story and an wind-load input at its base. The results show that the conventional method can be replaced by the proposed methodology with a simple installation and accuracy for evaluating the control performance of a TLMD.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.485-495
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• 2008

An experimental real-time hybrid method, which implements the vibration control of a building structure with only a two-way TLMD, is proposed and verified through a shaking table test. The building structure is divided into the upper experimental TLMD and the lower numerical structural part. The shaking table vibrates the TLMD with the response calculated from the numerical substructure, which is subjected to the excitations of the measured interface control force at its top story and sinusoidal waves input at its base. The results show that the conventional method can be replaced by the proposed methodology with a simple installation and accuracy for evaluating the control performance of a TLMD.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.437-454
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• 2023

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS), which has the advantages of a substructure pseudo-dynamic test, is widely used to investigate the rate-dependent mechanical response of structures under earthquake excitation. However, time delay in RTHS can cause inaccurate results and experimental instabilities. Thus, this study proposes a model-based adaptive control strategy using a Kalman filter (KF) to minimize the time delay and improve RTHS stability and accuracy. In this method, the adaptive control strategy consists of three parts-a feedforward controller based on the discrete inverse model of a servohydraulic actuator and physical specimen, a parameter estimator using the KF, and a feedback controller. The KF with the feedforward controller can significantly reduce the variable time delay due to its fast convergence and high sensitivity to the error between the desired displacement and the measured one. The feedback control can remedy the residual time delay and minimize the method's dependence on the inverse model, thereby improving the robustness of the proposed control method. The tracking performance and parametric studies are conducted using the benchmark problem in RTHS. The results reveal that better tracking performance can be obtained, and the KF's initial settings have limited influence on the proposed strategy. Virtual RTHSs are conducted with linear and nonlinear physical substructures, respectively, and the results indicate brilliant tracking performance and superb robustness of the proposed method.