Hybrid Control of a 3-D Structure by Using Semi-Active Dampers

Abstract

A base isolated three storey 3-D building is semi-actively controlled not to exceed the maximum allowable base displacement. Large displacements are likely to cause failure in the isolation system, and hence, failure in the superstructure is expected. If a base isolated structure is positioned next to a very long fault line, such as the North Anatolian Fault, the structure will mostly undergo far field type excitations. Near field effects will be seen less occasionally, but design considerations should be made to account for both types of excitations. In case of nearby seismic action, the isolated building should be smart enough to modify its isolation impedance to resist against large ground displacement and velocities. For this study, an isolated three storey building model together with four dampers, which are all placed at the base level, is considered. The dampers have controllable orifices (damping coefficients) and the magnitudes of these damping coefficients are assigned by using a linear quadratic regulator (LQR). During an earthquake excitation, the storey displacements and velocities are used as feedback in the calculation of the optimal control force that is producible by viscous dampers, at each time step. This force, however, is applied only at times when critical displacements and/or velocities occur. The performance of the set of controllers is presented via time simulations of the system for three recorded earthquakes. In addition, these records are time shifted five folds to see the effect of near field action. The results indicate that the control effectively reduces the maximum displacements of the isolation system, while maintaining a reasonable isolation to the superstructure.