Structural control systems: performance assessment

A systematic comparison of the performance of different control systems will be useful for the designer in selecting the most effective control system for a structure. The capabilities of ideal passive and active control systems are compared in this study. The passive system consists of an ideal viscous damper. The ideal active system is an ideal actuator which can instantaneously and precisely supply the commanded force. For determining the control action, an H/sub 2//LQG control algorithm was selected. To evaluate and compare the controllers, the structural responses of various 1-, 3-, 6-, 10- and 20-story buildings are examined. The ground excitation is modeled as a white noise, and RMS values of the structural responses and control forces are determined.