Chattering-free sliding mode control with a fuzzy model for structural applications

This paper proposes a chattering-free sliding mode control (CFSMC) method for seismically excited structures. The method is based on a fuzzy logic (FL) model applied to smooth the control force and eliminate chattering, where the switching part of the control law is replaced by an FL output. The CFSMC is robust and keeps the advantages of the conventional sliding mode control (SMC), whilst removing the chattering and avoiding the time-consuming process of generating fuzzy rule basis. The proposed method is tested on an 8-story shear frame equipped with an active tendon system. Results indicate that the new method not only can effectively enhance the seismic performance of the structural system compared to the SMC, but also ensure system stability and high accuracy with less computational cost. The CFSMC also requires less amount of energy from the active tendon system to produce the desired structural dynamic response.ARC DE150101703 and ARC LP14010059

Artificial Intelligence in Civil Engineering

Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science, involved in the research, design, and application of intelligent computer. Traditional methods for modeling and optimizing complex structure systems require huge amounts of computing resources, and artificial-intelligence-based solutions can often provide valuable alternatives for efficiently solving problems in the civil engineering. This paper summarizes recently developed methods and theories in the developing direction for applications of artificial intelligence in civil engineering, including evolutionary computation, neural networks, fuzzy systems, expert system, reasoning, classification, and learning, as well as others like chaos theory, cuckoo search, firefly algorithm, knowledge-based engineering, and simulated annealing. The main research trends are also pointed out in the end. The paper provides an overview of the advances of artificial intelligence applied in civil engineering

A smart mechatronic base isolation system using earthquake early warning

Earthquake is one of the most devastating natural disasters. In the last few decades, many seismic mitigation techniques have been developed. They include passive, semi-active and active control which have been proven their effectiveness in events of earthquakes. Among them, base isolation has been regarded as a mature technology and commercialisation is common in earthquake-prone countries. This technology decouples the main structure from its foundation and effectively lengthens the natural period of vibration, away from resonance vibration. However, the lateral stiffness of base isolation devices is generally too low to resist serviceability lateral forces such as wind and flood which may cause unacceptable lateral movements of the structure. Added lateral stiffness and/or damping is usually required. On the other hand, the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system which uses different arrival time of seismic P and S waves is readily available in Japan, Taiwan, parts of China and Europe. This technology offers more possibilities for improvement of earthquake mitigation technique. This project develops a smart mechatronic base isolation system which can be triggered by the EEW system. It uses the earthquake early warning signals and nearby monitoring signals to determine the situation and automatically switches to the appropriate anti-seismic mode. In the first phase of research, a one-dimensional system is developed and tested on an electrical shake table. A prototype smart mechatronic base isolation system is developed. In this prototype design, electromagnetic shear keys which lock the base isolator are released either by simulated EEW signals or on-site accelerometers. The advantage of this design gives the main structure a very strong stiffness under in-service condition (i.e. when there is no ground motion) while maximizing the effectiveness of base isolation when ground motion is anticipated. The system is fully automated, and the main structure is re-entered once ground motion ceases. In the second stage, a two-dimensional base isolation, created by low-friction linear bearings is developed and activation of base isolation is carried out by linear actuators. In the third stage, the system is developed further. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors are added to monitor position of base isolator in real-time, an active control strategy is added into the microcontroller and actuation is carried out by stepper motors. Using the feedbacks provided by the sensor the active base-isolation system re-position the main structure in real-time. The research presented in this thesis opens up new opportunities in future seismic risk mitigation of civil structures. By connecting the EEWS and mechatronic devices, the performance of traditional base isolation system can be enhanced

Vibration Suppression in Flexible Structures using Hybrid Active and Semi-active Control

This thesis presents a new hybrid active and semi-active control method for vibration suppression in flexible structures. The method uses a combination of a semi-active device and an active control actuator situated elsewhere in the structure to suppress vibrations. The key novelty is to use the hybrid controller to enable the semi-active device to achieve a performance as close to a fully active device as possible. This is accomplished by ensuring that the active actuator can assist the semi-active device in the regions where energy is required. Also, the hybrid active and semi-active controller is designed to minimise the switching of the semi-active controller. The control framework used is the immersion and invariance control technique in combination with a sliding mode control. A two degree-of-freedom system with lightly damped resonances is used as an example system. Both numerical and experimental results are generated for this system and then compared as part of a validation study. The experimental system uses hardware-in-the-loop simulation to simulate the effect of both the degrees-of-freedom. The results show that the concept is viable both numerically and experimentally, and improved vibration suppression results can be obtained for the semi-active device that approaches the performance of an active device. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid controller, it is implemented to keep the contact force constant in the pantograph-catenary system of high-speed trains. A detailed derivation is given after which the simulation results are presented. Then a method to design a reduced order observer using an invariant manifold approach is proposed. The main advantage of this approach is that it enables a systematic design approach, and (unlike most nonlinear observer design methods), it can be generalised over a larger class of nonlinear systems. The method uses specific mapping functions in a way that minimises the error dynamics close to zero. Another important aspect is the robustness property which is due to the manifold attractivity: an important feature when an observer is used in a closed loop control system. The observer design is validated using both numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop testing. The proposed observer is then compared with a very well known nonlinear observer based on the off-line solution of the Riccati equation for systems with Lipschitz type nonlinearity. In all cases, the performance of the proposed observer is shown to be excellent

Symbolic and Numeric Solutions of Modified Bang-Bang Control Strategies for Performance-Based Assessment of Base-Isolated Structures

This work explores symbolic and numeric solutions to the Lyapunov matrix equation as it applies to performance-based assessment of base-isolated structures supplemented by modified bang-bang control. Traditional studies of this type rely on numeric simulations alone. This study is the first to use symbolic analysis as a means of identifying key "cause and effect" relationships existing between parameters of the active control problem and the underlying differential equations of motion. We show that symbolic representations are very lengthy, even for structures having a small number of degrees of freedom. However, under certain simplifying assumptions, symbolic solutions to the Lyapunov matrix equation assume a greatly simplified form (thereby avoiding the need for computational solutions). Regarding the behavior of the bang-bang control strategy, further analysis shows: (1) for a 1-DOF system, the actuator force acts very nearly in phase, but in opposite direction to the velocity (90 degrees out of phase and in opposite direction to the displacement), and (2) for a wide range of 2-DOF nonlinear base-isolated models, bang-bang control is insensitive to nonlinear deformations in the isolator devices. Through nonlinear time-history analysis, we see that one- and two-DOF models are good indicators of behavior in higher DOF models. An analytical framework for system assessment through energy- and power-balance analysis is formulated. Computational experiments on base-isolated systems are conducted to identify and quantitatively evaluate situations when constant stiffness bang-bang control can significantly enhance overall performance, compared to base isolation alone, and assess the ability of present-day actuator technologies to deliver actuator power requirements estimated through simulation

Optimal seismic retrofitting of existing RC frames through soft-computing approaches

2016 - 2017Ph.D. Thesis proposes a Soft-Computing approach capable of supporting the engineer judgement in the selection and design of the cheapest solution for seismic retrofitting of existing RC framed structure. Chapter 1 points out the need for strengthening the existing buildings as one of the main way of decreasing economic and life losses as direct consequences of earthquake disasters. Moreover, it proposes a wide, but not-exhaustive, list of the most frequently observed deficiencies contributing to the vulnerability of concrete buildings. Chapter 2 collects the state of practice on seismic analysis methods for the assessment the safety of the existing buildings within the framework of a performancebased design. The most common approaches for modeling the material plasticity in the frame non-linear analysis are also reviewed. Chapter 3 presents a wide state of practice on the retrofitting strategies, intended as preventive measures aimed at mitigating the effect of a future earthquake by a) decreasing the seismic hazard demands; b) improving the dynamic characteristics supplied to the existing building. The chapter presents also a list of retrofitting systems, intended as technical interventions commonly classified into local intervention (also known “member-level” techniques) and global intervention (also called “structure-level” techniques) that might be used in synergistic combination to achieve the adopted strategy. In particular, the available approaches and the common criteria, respectively for selecting an optimum retrofit strategy and an optimal system are discussed. Chapter 4 highlights the usefulness of the Soft-Computing methods as efficient tools for providing “objective” answer in reasonable time for complex situation governed by approximation and imprecision. In particular, Chapter 4 collects the applications found in the scientific literature for Fuzzy Logic, Artificial Neural Network and Evolutionary Computing in the fields of structural and earthquake engineering with a taxonomic classification of the problems in modeling, simulation and optimization. Chapter 5 “translates” the search for the cheapest retrofitting system into a constrained optimization problem. To this end, the chapter includes a formulation of a novel procedure that assembles a numerical model for seismic assessment of framed structures within a Soft-Computing-driven optimization algorithm capable to minimize the objective function defined as the total initial cost of intervention. The main components required to assemble the procedure are described in the chapter: the optimization algorithm (Genetic Algorithm); the simulation framework (OpenSees); and the software environment (Matlab). Chapter 6 describes step-by-step the flow-chart of the proposed procedure and it focuses on the main implementation aspects and working details, ranging from a clever initialization of the population of candidate solutions up to a proposal of tuning procedure for the genetic parameters. Chapter 7 discusses numerical examples, where the Soft-Computing procedure is applied to the model of multi-storey RC frames obtained through simulated design. A total of fifteen “scenarios” are studied in order to assess its “robustness” to changes in input data. Finally, Chapter 8, on the base of the outcomes observed, summarizes the capabilities of the proposed procedure, yet highlighting its “limitations” at the current state of development. Some possible modifications are discussed to enhance its efficiency and completeness. [edited by author]XVI n.s

Active vibration control of civil engineering structures

This thesis is in the area of active vibration control of Civil Engineering structures subject to earthquake loading. Existing structural control methods and technologies including passive, active, semi-active and hybrid control are first introduced. An extensive analysis of a frame-pendulum model is developed and analysed to investigate under what conditions effective energy dissipation is achieved in Tuned Mass Damper systems and the limitation of these devices under stiffness degradation when the structure enters the inelastic region. Linear Quadratic Gaussian and H-infinity active control schemes are designed, simulated and assessed for buildings, modelled as lumped parameter systems, including base and actuator dynamics. Various aspects of the designs are extensively evaluated using multiple criteria and loading conditions and validated in large-scale benchmark problems under practical limitations and implementation constraints. A novel design method is proposed for minimising peak responses of regulated signals via a deadbeat parametrisation of all stabilising controllers in discrete-time. The method incorporates constraints on the magnitude and rate of the control signal and is solved via efficient Linear Programming methods. It is argued that this type of optimisation is more relevant for structural control, as failure occurs when maximum member displacements are exceeded. The problem of stiffness matrix estimation from experimental data is formulated as an optimisation problem and solved under various conditions (positive definiteness, tridiagonal structure) via an alternating convex projection scheme. Both static and dynamic loading is considered. The method is finally incorporated in an adaptive control scheme involving the redesign in real-time of an LQR (Linear Quadratic Regulator) active vibration controller. It is shown that the method is successful in recovering the stability and performance properties of the nominal design under conditions of significant uncertainty in the stiffness parameters

Emerging Trends in Mechatronics

Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary branch of engineering combining mechanical, electrical and electronics, control and automation, and computer engineering fields. The main research task of mechatronics is design, control, and optimization of advanced devices, products, and hybrid systems utilizing the concepts found in all these fields. The purpose of this special issue is to help better understand how mechatronics will impact on the practice and research of developing advanced techniques to model, control, and optimize complex systems. The special issue presents recent advances in mechatronics and related technologies. The selected topics give an overview of the state of the art and present new research results and prospects for the future development of the interdisciplinary field of mechatronic systems