Semiactive nonlinear control of a building with a magnetorheological damper system

Abstract This paper proposes a linear matrix inequality (LMI)-based systematic design methodology for nonlinear control of building structures equipped with a magnetorheological (MR) damper. This approach considers stability performance as well as transient characteristics in a unified framework. First, multiple Lyapunov-based controllers are designed via LMIs such that global asymptotical stability of the building structure is guaranteed and the performance on transient responses is also satisfied. Such Lyapunov-based state feedback controllers are converted into output feedback regulators using a set of Kalman estimators. Then, these Lyapunov-based controllers and Kalman observers are integrated into a global nonlinear control system via fuzzy logic. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a three-story building structure employing an MR damper is studied. The performance of the nonlinear control system is compared with that of a traditional linear optimal controller, i.e., H2/linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG), while the uncontrolled system response is used as the baseline. It is demonstrated from comparison of the uncontrolled and semiactive controlled responses that the proposed nonlinear control system design framework is effective in reducing the vibration of a seismically excited building structure equipped with an MR damper. Furthermore, the newly developed controller is more effective in mitigating responses of the structure than the H2/LQG controller.