Implementation of real-time hybrid shake table testing using the UCSD large high-performance outdoor shake table

Large shake tables can provide extended capabilities to conduct large- and full-scale tests examining the seismic behaviour of structural systems that cannot be readily obtained from reduced scale or quasi-static testing conditions. Assessing the behaviour of large or complex structural systems introduces challenges such as high cost of full-scale specimens or capacity limitations of currently available shake tables. Some of these limitations may be overcome by employing the real-time hybrid shake table test method that requires only key subassemblies to be evaluated experimentally on the shake table while the remainder of the structure is modelled numerically. As a demonstration of the applicability of this testing method using a large shake table, a series of hybrid shake table tests were conducted on the University of California, UC San Diego large high-performance outdoor shake table (LHPOST) with capabilities to test full scale structural models. A physical specimen was coupled with a numerical model using hybrid simulation techniques and shown to reproduce reliable results with adequate mitigation of experimental errors.