Implementation of an active mass driver using acceleration feedback control

: Most of the current research on active structural control for aseismic protection has focused on either full-state feedback strategies or velocity-feedback strategies. However, accurate measurement of the necessary displacements and velocities of the structure is difficult to achieve directly, particularly during seismic activity. Because accelerometers are inexpensive and can readily provide reliable measurement of the structural accelerations at strategic points on the structure, development of control methods based on acceleration feedback is an ideal solution to this problem. Recent studies of active bracing and active tendon systems have shown that H2/LQG frequency domain control methods employing acceleration feedback can be used effectively for aseismic protection of structures. This paper demonstrates experimentally the efficacy of acceleration-feedback–based active mass driver (AMD) systems in reducing the response of seismically excited structures.