Interstory-interbuilding actuation schemes for seismic protection of adjacent identical buildings

Abstract

Rows of closely adjacent buildings with similar dynamic characteristics are common building arrangements in residential areas. In this paper, we present a vibration control strategy for the seismic protection of this kind of multibuilding systems. The proposed approach uses an advanced Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) computational procedure to carry out the integrated design of distributed multiactuation schemes that combine interbuilding linking devices with interstory actuators implemented at different levels of the buildings. The controller designs are formulated as static output-feedback H-infinity control problems that include the interstory drifts, interbuilding approachings and control efforts as controlled-output variables. The advantages of the LMI computational procedure are also exploited to design a fully-decentralized velocity-feedback controller, which can define a passive control system with high-performance characteristics. The main ideas are presented by means of a system of three adjacent five-story identical buildings, and a proper set of numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the behavior of the different control configurations. The obtained results indicate that interstory-interbuilding multiactuation schemes can be used to design effective vibration control systems for adjacent buildings with similar dynamic characteristics. Specifically, this kind of control systems is able to mitigate the vibrational response of the individual buildings while maintaining reduced levels of pounding risk.