Semi-active Control of a Seismically Excited Cable-Stayed Bridge Considering Dynamic Models of MR Fluid Damper

This paper examines the ASCE first generation benchmark problem for a seismically excited cable-stayed bridge, and proposes a new semi-active control strategy focusing on inclusion of effects of control-structure interaction. This benchmark problem focuses on a cable-stayed bridge in Cope Girardeau, Missouri, USA, for which construction is expected to be completed in 2003. Seismic considerations were strongly considered in the design of this bridge due to the location of the bridge in the New Madrid seismic zone and its critical role as a principal crossing of the Mississippi River. In this paper, magnetorheological(MR) fluid dampers are proposed as the supplemental damping devices, and a clipped-optimal control algorithm is employed. Several types of dynamic models for MR fluid dampers, such as a Bingham model, a Bouc-Wen model, and a modified Bouc-Wen model, are considered, which are obtained from data based on experimental results for full-scale dampers. Because the MR fluid damper is a controllable energy-dissipation device that cannot add mechanical energy to the structural system, the proposed control strategy is fail-safe in that bounded-input, bounded-output stability of the controlled structure is guaranteed. Numerical simulation results show that the performance of the proposed semi-active control strategy using MR fluid dampers is quite effective.