Instantaneous Optimal Control For Structures Under Stochastic Seismic Loads

Abstract

This paper presents a method of controlling linear civil engineering structures subjected to stochastic earthquake ground excitations. Emphasis is placed in control of active bracing buildings. The earthquake ground motion is modeled as a filtered white noise or shot noise and the equations of motion of the structure are augmented by the earthquake model. This results in a feed forward compensation in addition to state feedback loop as obtained using the instantaneous optimal control algorithm. The nonstationary mean square response is computed using the method of Vectorization. Numerical examples for control of multi-story active bracing buildings are worked out to demonstrate the applications of the control method.