Dynamic Load Simulator: Actuation Strategies and Applications
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 133, Issue 8
Abstract
The development of a multiple-actuator dynamic load simulator (DLS), for the simulation of correlated dynamic loads on small-scale structural components and substructures, or on bench-scale system assemblage is presented in this paper. Conceptually, the DLS employs actuators to simulate a desired dynamic loading environment due to wind, waves, or earthquakes, which in special cases may serve as a replacement for conventional facilities such as wind tunnels, wave tanks and shaking tables. The actuation strategy of the DLS is based on force-control rather than the customary motion control (displacement/velocity) scheme. The load simulator is ideal for structural components and for systems that can be idealized as lumped mass systems. An actuation strategy for the DLS based on an innovative scheme that utilizes the coupled control system is developed. For implementation of this scheme, the nonlinear control system toolbox in MATLAB is used. In this scheme, the tuning of control parameters in the time domain is carried out by solving a constrained optimization problem. A suite of loading protocols that includes sinusoidal, two-point correlated fluctuations in wind loading, earthquake induced loading and loads characterized by strong non-Gaussian features is simulated by employing the control scheme introduced here. The load simulation examples presented here demonstrate that the loading time histories generated by utilizing the DLS matched the target values with high fidelity.
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Acknowledgments
The writers were supported in part by Grant No. CCS622895 by the Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies and the NSF Grant No. CMS NSF95-03779. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsors.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 133 • Issue 8 • August 2007
Pages: 855 - 863
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: May 24, 2005
Accepted: May 17, 2006
Published online: Aug 1, 2007
Published in print: Aug 2007
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Henri P. Gavin
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