Optimal design of structures using cyber-physical wind tunnel experiments with mechatronic models

Abstract

This paper explores the use of a cyber-physical systems (CPS) approach to optimize the design of rigid, low-rise structures subjected to wind loading, with the intent of producing a foundational method to study more complex structures through future research. The CPS approach combines the accuracy of physical wind tunnel testing with the ability to efficiently explore a search space using numerical optimization algorithms. The approach is fully automated, with experiments executed in a boundary layer wind tunnel (BLWT), sensor feedback monitored by a computer, and actuators used to bring about physical changes to a mechatronic structural model. Because the model is undergoing physical change as it approaches the optimal solution, this approach is given the name “loop-in-the-model” optimization.Proof-of-concept was demonstrated for a low-rise structure with a parapet wall of variable height. Parapet walls alter the location of the roof corner vortices, reducing suction loads on the windward facing roof corners and edges and setting up an interesting optimal design problem. In the BLWT, the parapet height was adjusted using servo-motors to achieve a particular design. Experiments were conducted at the University of Florida Experimental Facility (UFEF) of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Natural Hazard Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) program.