Applications of Some Semiactive Control Systems to Benchmark Cable-Stayed Bridge

Abstract

Recently, a benchmark cable-stayed bridge model was developed for the control community as a test bed to evaluate the performance of various strategies for the control of cable-stayed bridges during earthquakes. In this paper, the effectiveness and performances of some semiactive and passive control systems for this benchmark cable-stayed bridge are evaluated and presented. The semiactive control systems considered include the semiactive stiffness damper and the semiactive friction damper. Cases of passive linear and nonlinear viscous fluid dampers are also investigated and presented. The performances of semiactive control systems are evaluated using effective control strategies and compared with that of the sample active control system using actuators. Simulation results clearly indicate that the displacement of the bridge deck as well as the shear and moment at the base of the towers can be reduced substantially by installing these passive and semiactive protective devices. It is shown that semiactive and passive devices investigated herein are effective in reducing the peak response quantities of the bridge to a level comparable to that of the sample active controller under similar force constraints.