Performance analysis for an improved strategy in optimal control of civil engineering structures

Abstract

Civil Engineering structures are already an important part in the Smart Cities concept. In connection to this, integration of new technologies is under way in the field of Structural Engineering as in all Civil and Buildings/Bridges Engineering. One of the main goals is to protect structures from possible harm from earthquakes. In order to achieve this goal, Optimal Active Control has been proposed and used with a high degree of success. However, the application strategies are continuously improving. A strategy consisting in simplifying the Optimal Active control for full states has been proposed by the authors and relatively recently modified for an increased efficiency. That was a theoretical research taking into account the possibility to reduce the order of magnitude of matrices involved in computations. The present paper is assuming the previous theoretical result and simulates its application to the structural model of a ground floor plus ten floors building specially designed for this purpose. The reinforced concrete frame building’s behaviour is analysed under seismic actions. Efficiency and the control strategy are observed in different scenarios. The structural response is revealing that the new strategy is working faster in limiting the effects of earthquake input. In addition, the reduced computational time leads to a faster control and smaller phase-shift in practical use.