CONTROL OF SLIDING-ISOLATED BUILDINGS USING DYNAMIC LINEARIZATION

The method of dynamic linearization is presented for the control of seismic-excited buildings isolated by a frictional-type base sliding system. The dynamic behaviour of the building equipped with a base sliding isolation system is highly nonlinear. The method of dynamic linearization is to synthesize the control vector such that the response of the building matches that of a specified template system, where the dynamic behaviour of the template system is well known. Applications of the method of dynamic linearization to a sliding-isolated building require only a few sensors for the entire control system, making the control method very easy for practical implementation. A shaking table experimental program was conducted to demonstrate the validity of the control method presented. For the shaking table tests, a three-storey 1/4-scaled building model is mounted on a base mat supported by four frictional bearings. Numerical simulation results under ideal control environments indicate that the performance of the dynamic linearization method is remarkable. However, experimental results show a moderate degradation of the control performance due to noise pollution and system time delays. It is observed that control of sliding-isolated buildings is quite sensitive to a system time delay.