Hybrid platform for vibration control of high‐tech equipment in buildings subject to ground motion. Part 1: experiment

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents an experimental study, while a companion paper addresses an analytical study, to explore the possibility of using a hybrid platform to mitigate vibration of a batch of high‐tech equipment installed in a building subject to nearby traffic‐induced ground motion. A three‐storey building model and a hybrid platform model are designed and manufactured. The hybrid platform is mounted on the building floor through passive mounts composed of leaf springs and oil dampers and controlled actively by an electromagnetic actuator with velocity feedback control strategy. The passive mounts are designed in such a way that the stiffness and damping ratio of the platform can be changed. A series of shaking table tests are then performed on the building model without the platform, with the passive platform of different parameters, and with the hybrid platform. The experimental results demonstrate that the hybrid platform is very effective in reducing the velocity response of a batch of high‐tech equipment in the building subject to nearby traffic‐induced ground motion if dynamic properties of the platform and control feedback gain are selected appropriately. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.