Adaptive Control to Mitigate Damage Impact on Structural Response

The use of semi-active devices for natural hazard mitigation is particularly attractive as they do not destabilize the structure and have the ability of adapting to varying usage patterns and loading conditions. However, even in the presence of supplemental control devices, extreme earthquake, wind loads, and deterioration caused by corrosion or fatigue may result in structural damage. Adaptive control approaches are attractive methods to control the structural performance of the structure as it can deal with these changes. In this study, first, the behavior of a 3-story building is controlled by a direct adaptive control approach using active devices, and then, magnetorheological (MR) dampers are controlled by the direct adaptive method. This control approach is used to reduce the impact of damage in the 3-story building. In the analysis of the structure, some stiffness reduction is assumed as a result of potential damage in different stories of the building. The controlled damaged structure responses under different ground motions are presented and compared with the uncontrolled damaged structure behavior. The goal of the adaptive control method in this research is to force the damaged structure to behave like an undamaged structure which performs acceptably. The effectiveness of this method in controlling the MR dampers is then verified.