Real-time Dynamic Hybrid Testing Research Articles

Real-time dynamic hybrid testing method for the dynamic characteristics of soil-structure interaction system

The radiation damping of the elastic half-space significantly affects the modal damping ratio of the superstructure. However, conventionally, it is hard for the traditional shaking table test to exhibit the radiation damping effect of the site due to the boundary effects of the model box. In this paper, a new impulsive-force-based real-time dynamic hybrid testing (RTDHT) method is developed to investigate the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effect on the structural dynamic characteristics. In the new method, the superstructure is considered to be a physical substructure and the semi-infinite soil deposits is as assumed to be a numerical substructure. The free vibration of the superstructure in the SSI system is excited by applying impulsive force at the interface of the soil and superstructure. Then, a time-domain method combining empirical wavelet transform and Hilbert transform is developed to identify structural modal parameters, which significantly improves the efficiency and accuracy of the experimental modal analysis for the shaking table test of the SSI system. A series of the RTDHT of a two-story steel frame structure on elastic half-space site is carried out, which validated the effectiveness and accuracy of the test method by comparisons between the experimental and numerical results.

Performance extension of shaking table‐based real‐time dynamic hybrid testing through full state control via simulation

Real-time dynamic hybrid testing (RTDHT) is a state-of-the-art experimental technique for evaluating the performance of a structural system subjected to time-varying loads. Because of the superiority of shaking table for testing rate-dependent and inertial effect existing in structural system, shaking table-based RTDHT is an important branch in RTDHT family, in which shaking table is used to impose inertial forces on physical substructure. Owing to the mass of the seismic platform, shaking table has a relatively narrow testing bandwidth akin to a stand-alone actuator RTDHT system. Furthermore, structure–table interaction confines the physical substructure to a very small mass and linear stage, such that shaking table-based RTDHT is unable to test the structural performance with consideration of high frequency input or non-linearity using large-scale physical substructure. Actually, this is why we develop RTDHT. In this work, a control strategy named full state control via simulation (FSCS) was proposed to extend the testing capacity of shaking table-based RTDHT. The efficiency of FSCS-controlled RTDHT for testing high frequency and non-linear structural performance was verified by a small- and large-scale shaking table-based RTDHT, respectively.

Analysis of delay compensation in real-time dynamic hybrid testing with large integration time-step

With the sub-stepping technique, the numerical analysis in real-time dynamic hybrid testing is split into the response analysis and signal generation tasks. Two target computers that operate in real-time may be assigned to implement these two tasks, respectively, for fully extending the simulation scale of the numerical substructure. In this case, the integration time-step of solving the dynamic response of the numerical substructure can be dozens of times bigger than the sampling time-step of the controller. The time delay between the real and desired feedback forces becomes more striking, which challenges the well-developed delay compensation methods in real-time dynamic hybrid testing. This paper focuses on displacement prediction and force correction for delay compensation in the real-time dynamic hybrid testing with a large integration time-step. A new displacement prediction scheme is proposed based on recently-developed explicit integration algorithms and compared with several commonly-used prediction procedures. The evaluation of its prediction accuracy is carried out theoretically, numerically and experimentally. Results indicate that the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed prediction method are of significance.

Simulation of large-scale numerical substructure in real-time dynamic hybrid testing

A solution scheme is proposed in this paper for an existing RTDHT system to simulate large-scale finite element (FE) numerical substructures. The analysis of the FE numerical substructure is split into response analysis and signal generation tasks, and executed in two different target computers in real-time. One target computer implements the response analysis task, wherein a large time-step is used to solve the FE substructure, and another target computer implements the signal generation task, wherein an interpolation program is used to generate control signals in a small time-step to meet the input demand of the controller. By using this strategy, the scale of the FE numerical substructure simulation may be increased significantly. The proposed scheme is initially verified by two FE numerical substructure models with 98 and 1240 degrees of freedom (DOFs). Thereafter, RTDHTs of a single frame-foundation structure are implemented where the foundation, considered as the numerical substructure, is simulated by the FE model with 1240 DOFs. Good agreements between the results of the RTDHT and those from the FE analysis in ABAQUS are obtained.

Stability analysis of MDOF real‐time dynamic hybrid testing systems using the discrete‐time root locus technique

SUMMARYThe time delay resulting from the servo hydraulic systems can potentially destabilize the real‐time dynamic hybrid testing (RTDHT) systems. In this paper, the discrete‐time root locus technique is adopted to investigate the delay‐dependent stability performance of MDOF RTDHT systems. Stability analysis of an idealized two‐story shear frame with two DOFs is first performed to illustrate the proposed method. The delay‐dependent stability condition is presented for various structural properties, time delay, and integration time steps. Effects of delay compensation methods on stability are also investigated. Then, the proposed method is applied to analyze the delay‐dependent stability of a single shaking table RTDHT system with an 18‐DOF finite element numerical substructure, and corresponding RTDHTs are carried out to verify the theoretical results. Furthermore, the stability behavior of a finite element RTDHT system with two physical substructures, loaded by twin shaking tables, is theoretically and experimentally investigated. All experimental results convincingly demonstrate that the delay‐dependent stability analysis on the basis of the discrete‐time root locus technique is feasible. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Real-Time Dynamic Hybrid Testing Coupling Finite Element and Shaking Table

In this article, a Simulink simulation block with the finite element function is developed on the basis of S-function and implemented as the numerical substructure of real-time dynamic hybrid testing. Thereby, a real-time dynamic hybrid testing system coupling finite element calculation and shaking table testing is achieved. Using the developed system, a shear frame mounted on the soil foundation is tested, in which the shear frame is simulated as the physical model and the foundation is simulated as the finite element model with 132 degrees of freedom. Several cases of the dynamic behavior of soil-structure interaction are studied.

Introduction of Shaking Table Test of Rigid Frame Bridge Model

To investigate the seismic response of long-span rigid frame bridges with high-pier, the shaking table test of a 1/10 scaled rigid frame bridge model is introduced in this paper. Details about test equipment, model design, test arrangement, input ground motion waves and test principle are provided. The response of bridge model under the seismic excitation included the uniform excitation and the multi-support excitation is observed. The influence of the soil-structure interaction on the bridge is considered through the real-time dynamic hybrid testing method. The impact effect for different ground motion input during the test is discussed. The influence of multi-support excitation, soil-structure interaction and impact effect on structural seismic responses are studied based on the test results. The isolation effectiveness and the damping effect are discussed as well.

Development of a Versatile Hybrid Testing System for Seismic Experimentation

The hybrid testing method for earthquake engineering was developed to evaluate the seismic performance of civil structural systems. During hybrid testing, part of the structure, called physical substructure, is physically tested using hydraulic loading equipment while the rest of the structure, named numerical substructure, is numerically simulated with a computer model. Thus, hybrid testing allows a complex physical substructure being tested experimentally, while the relatively simple part of the structure is numerically simulated to economically obtain the full structural response. Recently, a versatile hybrid testing system was built at Western Michigan University consisting of a shake table, an actuator/reaction system, and an advanced hybrid testing controller. Such a testing system is capable of conducting various seismic experiments such as displacement-based pseudodynamic substructure testing as well as force-based real time dynamic hybrid testing. Because of its versatility and easy operation at the benchmark scale, the developed testing system is particularly suitable for the development of advanced hybrid testing techniques and, earthquake engineering education/outreach activities. The development of the testing system is described in this article focusing on the hardware and software integrations. A three story shake table hybrid test is presented as an example to demonstrate the system’s capability and feasibility.

Development of Software and Hardware Architecture for Real-Time Dynamic Hybrid Testing and Application to a Base Isolated Structure

Real-Time Dynamic Hybrid Test (RTDHT) is a promising experimental testing technique, which combines numerical simulation and experimental testing of physical specimen in a complementary and efficient way. However, taking advantage of both numerical and experimental capabilities requires facing issues related to both environments. In this article, the design and implementation of a RTDHT hardware and software architecture is presented. Issues related both to the numerical model and to the experimental setup are discussed; this is done from a general perspective, as well as referring to a base isolated structure which represents the implemented case study.

Real-time dynamic hybrid testing for soil–structure interaction analysis

Simulating dynamic soil–structure interaction (SSI) problems is a challenge when using a shaking table because of the semi-infinity of soil foundations. This paper develops real-time dynamic hybrid testing (RTDHT) for SSI problems in order to consider the radiation damping effect of the semi-infinite soil foundation using a shaking table. Based on the substructure concept, the superstructure is physically tested and the semi-infinite foundation is numerically simulated. Thus, the response of the entire system considering the dynamic SSI is obtained by coupling the numerical calculation of the soil and the physical test of the superstructure. A two-story shear frame on a rigid foundation was first tested to verify the developed RTDHT system, in which the top story was modeled as the physical substructure and the bottom story was the numerical substructure. The RTDHT for a two-story structure mounted on soil foundation was then carried out on a shaking table while the foundation was numerically simulated using a lumped parameter model. The dynamic responses, including acceleration and shear force, were obtained under soft and hard soil conditions. The results show that the soil–structure interaction should be reasonably taken into account in the shaking table testing for structures.

Delay-dependent stability and added damping of SDOF real-time dynamic hybrid testing

It is well-recognized that a transfer system response delay that reduces the test stability inevitably exists in real-time dynamic hybrid testing (RTDHT). This paper focuses on the delay-dependent stability and added damping of SDOF systems in RTDHT. The exponential delay term is transferred into a rational fraction by the Pade approximation, and the delay-dependent stability conditions and instability mechanism of SDOF RTDHT systems are investigated by the root locus technique. First, the stability conditions are discussed separately for the cases of stiffness, mass, and damping experimental substructure. The use of root locus plots shows that the added damping effect and instability mechanism for mass are different from those for stiffness. For the stiffness experimental substructure case, the instability results from the inherent mode because of an obvious negative damping effect of the delay. For the mass case, the delay introduces an equivalent positive damping into the inherent mode, and instability occurs at an added high frequency mode. Then, the compound stability condition is investigated for a general case and the results show that the mass ratio may have both upper and lower limits to remain stable. Finally, a high-emulational virtual shaking table model is built to validate the stability conclusions.