Wireless Sensing and Control of Structural Vibration from Earthquake

This paper presents the feasibility of wireless sensing technology in seismic response control of structures. A shaking table test of a 3-story steel structure using MICA2 motes with accelerometers is conducted at Washington University Structural Control and Earthquake Engineering Lab. Magnetorheological (MR) dampers are adopted as actuators. Based on wireless acceleration feedback of the structures and wired force feedback of MR dampers, a bang-bang clipped optimal control algorithm is developed to command the MR damper. The experimental results indicate that the proposed control scheme can effectively mitigate the response of the structure.