Control of Buildings Using Active Tuned Mass Dampers

Abstract

A closed-loop complete-feedback control algorithm is proposed for the control of a building modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system using an active tuned mass damper (ATMD). The control force is calculated from the acceleration, velocity, and displacement feedbacks of the SDOF system and the active mass damper. The passive-control-device properties, including the stiffness and damping constants of the tuned mass damper and the three gain coefficients of the actuator, are derived by minimizing the displacement variance of the SDOF system. Simulations are performed to evaluate the performance of the active-tuned-mass-damper design on the examples of a SDOF system and a 10-story three-bay building frame. The results show that the control efficiency of the ATMD based on velocity feedback depends on the passive-control-device properties assumed. Also, the ATMD with optimal passive properties using complete feedback results in further reduction in the structural displacement. The results also show that for the same level of reduction in structural displacements, the control force required is smaller using complete feedback.