• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.741-757
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• 2008

The research field of structural control has evolved from the development of passive devices since 1970s, through the intensive investigation on active systems in 1980s, to the recent studies of semi-active control systems in 1990s. Currently semi-active control is considered most promising in civil engineering applications. However, actual implementation of semi-active devices is still limited due mainly to their system maintenance and associated long-term reliability as a result of power requirement. In this paper, the concept of functionally upgraded passive devices is introduced to streamline some of the state-of-the-art researches and guide the development of new passive devices that can mimic the function of their corresponding semi-active control devices for various applications. The general characteristics of this special group of passive devices are discussed and representative examples are summarized. Their superior performances are illustrated with cyclic and shake table tests of two example devices: mass-variable tuned liquid damper and friction-pendulum bearing with a variable sliding surface curvature.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.227-242
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• 2019

Seismic isolation systems employ structural control that protect both buildings and vibration-sensitive contents from destructive effects of earthquakes. Structural control is divided into three main groups: passive, active, and semi-active. Among them, semi-active isolation systems, which can reduce floor displacements and accelerations concurrently, has gained importance in recent years since they don't require large power or pose stability problems like active ones. However, their seismic performance may vary depending on the variations that may be observed in the mechanical properties of semi-active devices and/or seismic isolators. Uncertainties relating to isolators can arise from variations in geometry, boundary conditions, material behavior, or temperature, or aging whereas those relating to semi-active control devices can be due to thermal changes, inefficiencies in calibrations, manufacturing errors, etc. For a more realistic evaluation of the seismic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings, such uncertainties must be taken into account. Here, the probabilistic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings under historical pulse-like near-fault earthquakes is evaluated in terms of their performance in preserving structural integrity and protecting vibration-sensitive contents considering aforementioned uncertainties via Monte-Carlo simulations of 3-story and 9-story semi-active isolated benchmark buildings. The results are presented in the form of fragility curves and probability of failure profiles.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.243-250
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• 2002

Semi-active control devices have received significant attention in recent Years because they offer the adaptability of active-control devices without requiring the associated large power sources. Magnetorheological(MR) dampers are semiactive control devices that use MR fluids to produce controllable dampers. This paper applies sliding mode control method using target variation rate of Lyapunov function for the control of structures by use of MR dampers. The three-story building model under earthquake excitation is analyzed by installing a MR damper in the first-story. The performance of semi-active controllers designed by clipped-optimal algorithm and modified sliding mode control algorithm is compared to the performance of passive-type MR dampers. The results indicate that semi-active controllers achieve a greater reduction of responses than passive-type system and especially the controller by modified sliding mode control method shows a good applicability in the view of response control and control force.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.831-846
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• 2015

Magneto-Rheological (MR) dampers are being used increasingly because of their adaptability to control algorithms and reliability of passive systems. In this paper, an extensive investigation on performance of MR dampers in semi-active and passive modes has been carried out. It is observed that the overall energy dissipation by MR dampers in passive-on modes is higher than that in semi-active modes for most of the competitive semi-active controllers. Based on the energy dissipation pattern, a novel semi-active controller, termed as "Simple Passive Semi-Active Controller", has been proposed for MR dampers. This controller can be emulated by a simple passive hardware proposed in this paper. The proposed concept of controller "hardware emulation" is innovative and can also be implemented for other semi-active devices for control algorithms of certain form. The effectiveness and reliability of the proposed controller has been investigated extensively through numerical simulations. It has been demonstrated that the proposed controller is competitive to or more effective than other widely used / investigated semi-active controllers.

• 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.22 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2022

Older or damaged structures can require significant retrofit to ensure they perform well in subsequent earthquakes. Supplemental damping devices are used to achieve this goal, but increase base shear forces, foundation demand, and cost. Displacement reduction without increasing base shear is possible using novel semi-active and recently-created passive devices, which offer energy dissipation in selected quadrants of the force-displacement response. Combining these devices with large, strictly passive energy dissipation devices can offer greater, yet customized response reductions. Supplemental damping to reduce response without increasing base shear enables a net-zero base shear approach. This study evaluates this concept using two incremental dynamic analyses (IDAs) to show displacement reductions up to 40% without increasing base shear, more than would be achieved for either device alone, significantly reducing the risk of response exceeding the unaltered structural case. IDA results lead to direct calculation of reductions in risk and annualized economic cost for adding these devices using this net-zero concept, thus quantifying the trade-off. The overall device assessment and risk analysis method presented provides a generalizable proof-of-concept approach, and provides a framework for assessing the impact and economic cost-benefit of using modern supplemental energy dissipation devices.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.595-617
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• 2013

Semi-active control equipments are used to effectually enhance the seismic behavior of structures. Magneto-rheological (MR) dampers are semi-active devices that can be utilized to control the response of structures during seismic loads and have received voracious attention for response suppression. They supply the adaptability of active devices and stability and reliability of passive devices. This paper presents an optimal fuzzy logic control scheme for vibration mitigation of buildings using magneto-rheological dampers subjected to near-fault ground motions. Near-fault features including a directivity pulse in the fault-normal direction and a fling step in the fault-parallel direction are considered in the requisite ground motion records. The membership functions and fuzzy rules of fuzzy controller were optimized by genetic algorithm (GA). Numerical study is performed to analyze the influences of near-fault ground motions on a building that is equipped with MR dampers. Considering the uncontrolled system response as the base line, the proposed method is scrutinized by analogy with that of a conventional maximum dissipation energy (MED) controller to accentuate the effectiveness of the fuzzy logic algorithm. Results reveal that the fuzzy logic controllers can efficiently improve the structural responses and MR dampers are quite promising for reducing seismic responses during near-fault earthquakes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.111-125
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• 2019

Metallic shape memory alloys present fascinating physical properties such as their super-elastic behavior in austenite phase, which can be exploited for providing a structure with both a self-centering capability and an increased ductility. More or less accurate numerical models have been introduced to model their behavior along the last 25 years. This is the reason for which the literature is rich of suggestions/proposals on how to implement this material in devices for passive and semi-active control. Nevertheless, the thermo-mechanical coupling characterizing the first-order martensite phase transformation process results in several macroscopic features affecting the alloy performance. In particular, the effects of day-night and winter-summer temperature excursions require special attention. This aspect might imply that the deployment of some devices should be restricted to indoor solutions. A further aspect is the dependence of the behavior from the geometry one adopts. Two fundamental lacks of symmetry should also be carefully considered when implementing a SMA-based application: the behavior in tension is different from that in compression, and the heating is easy and fast whereas the cooling is not. This manuscript focuses on the passive devices recently proposed in the literature for civil engineering applications. Based on the challenges above identified, their actual feasibility is investigated in detail and their long term performance is discussed with reference to their fatigue life. A few available semi-active solutions are also considered.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.767-773
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• 2004

Semi-active control systems have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years, because they offer the adaptability of active devices without requiring large Power sources. One of the most Promising semi-active devices proposed for structural control is magneto-rheological fluid dampers (MR damper). In this paper, an MR damper having the capacity of about 1 ton was designed and fabricated. and series of tests were performed to grasp the fundamental Performance characteristics of it. It was also applied to a 6-story steel structure under random excitation and 3-different seismic excitations for the confirmation of its validity on structural vibration absorption. Through this study, the techniques and know-hows for MR damper production were acquired.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.282-286
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• 2000

In this paper, magneto-rheological(MR) damper is studied for vibration control of large infra structures under earthquake. Generally, active control devices need a large control force and a high power supply system to reduce the vibration effectively. Large and miss tuned control force may induce the dangerous situation such that the generated large control force acts to amplify the structural vibration. Recently, to overcome the weaknesses of the active control, the semi-active control method is suggested by many researchers. Semi-active control uses the passive control device of which the characteristics can be modified. Control force of the semi-active device is not generated from the actuator with power supply. It is generated as a dynamic reaction force of the device same as in the passive control case, so the control system is inherently stable and robust. Unlike the case of passive control, control force of semi-active control is adjusted depending on the measured response of the structure, so the vibration can be reduced more effectively against various unknown environmental loads. Magneto-rheological(MR) damper is one of the semi-active devices. Dynamic characteristics of the MR material can be changed by applying the magnetic fields. So the control of MR damper needs only small power. Response time of MR to the input voltage is very short, so the high performance control is possible. MR damper has a high force capacity so it is adequate to the vibration control of large infra structure. Because MR damper has a nonlinear property, normal control method used in active control may not be effective. Clipped optimal control, modified bang-bang control etc. have been suggested to MR damper by many researchers. In this study, sliding mode fuzzy control(SMFC) is applied to MR damper. Genetic algorithm is used for the controller tuning. To verify the applicability of MR damper and suggested algorithm, numerical simulation on the aseismic control is carried out. Simulation model is three-story building structure, which was used in the paper of Dyke, et al. The control performance is compared with clipped optimal control. The present results indicate that the SMFC algorithm can reduce the earthquake-induced vibration very effectively.