Semi-Active Control for Benchmark Building Using Innovative TMD with MRE Isolators

Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) with magneto-rheological elastomer isolators (MRE-TMD) is a novel control device for suppressing structural vibration caused by earthquakes. It is a nonlinear hybrid vibration absorber and the stiffness & damping can be controlled by changing the current of isolators’ coil. Using MRE-TMD as an adaptive frequency TMD to mitigate vibration and treating it as only a passive damper is the focus of most nowadays researches. In this paper, semi-active control theory is introduced to the MRE-TMD-structure system which means that the control force can be obtained through variable stiffness & damping technology, and MRE-TMD is a semi-active damper instead of a passive one. A control system sketch, as well as principles and control strategies of a semi-active MRE-TMD-structure system for vibration control is designed. An improved limited sliding (ILSL) algorithm based on linear quadratic optimal theory is also introduced. Numeric simulations of a five-story benchmark building model equipped with semi-active MRE-TMD subjected to several benchmark earthquake records are conducted to investigate the control performance of the proposed semi-active MRE-TMD. Control force characteristics of the structural MRE-TMD systems are also evaluated. The results indicate that semi-active MRE-TMD can provide control force to the system and it shows superior ability to suppress the structural vibrations of comparing to the passive MRE-TMD.