Improved Decentralized Method for Control of Building Structures under Seismic Excitation

A decentralized control method with improved robustness and design flexibility is proposed for reducing vibrations of seismically excited building structures. In a previous study, a control scheme was developed for multistory building models using nonlinear, decentralized control theory. This control method has now been improved in this study in that less information about material properties and geometrical parameters of the building is needed and the selection of control design parameters is more flexible. The nonlinear behavior of the proposed control system is studied and its stability property is proven mathematically. To evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, three illustrative structural models, i.e., an eight-story elastic shear beam model, a two-story nonlinear elastic shear beam model, and a 20-story elastic benchmark model are studied. The 1940 El Centro and the 1995 Kobe earthquakes are used in these examples. The performance of the current control design, as applied to these examples, has shown to be more effective in reducing structural responses and improving robustness.