Optimum control system for earthquake-excited building structures with minimal number of actuators and sensors

Abstract

For vibration control of civil structures, especially large civil structures, one of the important issues is how to place a minimal number of actuators and sensors at their respective optimal locations to achieve the predetermined control performance. In this paper, a methodology is presented for the determination of the minimal number and optimal location of actuators and sensors for vibration control of building structures under earthquake excitation. In the proposed methodology, the number and location of the actuators are first determined in terms of the sequence of performance index increments and the predetermined control performance. A multi-scale response reconstruction method is then extended to the controlled building structure for the determination of the minimal number and optimal placement of sensors with the objective that the reconstructed structural responses can be used as feedbacks for the vibration control while the predetermined control performance can be maintained. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed methodology are finally investigated numerically through a 20-story shear building structure under the El-Centro ground excitation and the Kobe ground excitation. The numerical results show that with the limited number of sensors and actuators at their optimal locations, the predetermined control performance of the building structure can be achieved.