REAL-TIME HYBRID TESTING USING THE UNCONDITIONALLY STABLE EXPLICIT CR INTEGRATION ALGORITHM

摘要

Real-time hybrid testing is an experimental technique that combines experimental testing and numerical simulation, and therefore provides a viable alternative for the dynamic testing of structural systems. In real-time hybrid testing an integration algorithm is used to compute command displacements for the servo-hydraulic actuator that are based on feedback restoring forces. Explicit integration algorithms are usually preferred over implicit algorithms since they require no iteration. However, the time step size for an explicit integration algorithm can be extremely small in order to avoid a numerical stability. This paper describes the application of an unconditionally stable explicit integration algorithm for real-time hybrid testing. The stability characteristics of the integration algorithm for response determination of linear and non-linear structures are illustrated using control theory, and the implementation of the algorithm for use in real-time hybrid testing is presented. Results from a test of a single story moment resisting frame with a passive elastomeric damper subjected to earthquake ground motion are presented to illustrate the use of the algorithm in real-time hybrid testing.