Study on integrated response-based adaptive strategies for control and placement optimization of multiple magneto-rheological dampers-controlled structure under seismic excitations

Abstract

The application and optimization of control systems with multiple magneto-rheological dampers integrated into a civil engineering structure is a challenging task. The performance of the control system is strongly linked with the location and arrangement of control devices, and the optimal placement of control devices is inherently linked with the performance objective of the control algorithm. Therefore, for semi-active control devices, the placement algorithm should be well rooted within the control algorithm, for effective structural control. This article proposes response-based adaptive control strategies embedded with the device location optimization algorithm. The acceleration and inter-story drift responses of the structure are considered as the performance objective for two separate control strategies. The flexibility of this approach lies in the fact that the design algorithm for control and location of magneto-rheological dampers can be engineered based on the performance criteria of the system. This study involves numerical simulation of an actual five-story framed structure. The simulation results indicated that the seismic performance of the structure is strongly linked with the number, placement of the magneto-rheological damper, and the performance objective of the control strategy used. Also, the configuration and corresponding control provided by the response-based adaptive strategies performed better than the configuration predicted by the benchmark genetic algorithm using the H2/LQG controller.