Bounded-state active control of structures: a set-theoretic approach

The paper presents some results from the application of a set-theoretic bounded-state control strategy to active structural control problems. This particular control strategy, never before applied to structural problems, has many features that are very suited for structural control: among them, the possibility of prescribing and guaranteeing exact bounds on the state and on the control forces, while taking into account the uncertainty on the external forces (in a nonprobabilistic way). After a brief presentation of the control strategy, two examples are discussed, showing the applicability of the proposed control strategy to general structural systems. The interpretation of the results throws light on some limitations of the original approach, and suggests possible extensions of the concept, in view of the application to real problems.