Title: SEMI- ACTIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS STUDY IN COUPLED BUILDINGS.

Author(s): Luis Bernardo Ugarte Lucuy, Manuel Euripides Ruiz-Sandóval Hernández, Bill F. Spencer.

Publication: IMCYC

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Appears on pages(s): 18-39

Keywords: Structural control, adjoined (coupled) structures and semi-active devices (mechanisms).

DOI:

Date: 7/1/2012

Abstract:
"One of the challenges in structural engineering is diminishing the effects seismic stresses can produce in structures. Excessive displacement or acceleration together can cause a deterioration of safety conditions and maintennance of the building. This situation places the occupants as well as neighboring structures at risk. There has been a great boom in the upgrading of structural control in the last decades, and it’s objective is maintaining seismic stresses within preestablished limits. There are different types and classifications of controls; one of them being used is based on the performance of devices in place: passive, active and semi-active devices. Another form of control that has been used recently is by means of coupling two or more structural systems through passive mechanisms. An advantage is the distribution of seismic forces within the structures and a displacement or diminishing in sections of the structural elements. In this work, a study of coupling between two structures through sem-active devices is presented. The first step consists of determining the resulting effect in the system when the two masses are equal or are different to a negligible degree. Afterward, which and how many points of optimal coupling between the two structures is investigated. Finally, the performance of distribution of basal shear in the type of control device used is presented. The results demonstrate that the use of semi-active control devices could be considered as a viable option in the structural control of adjoined structures."