Optimal Design of Complex Passive-Damping Systems for Vibration Control of Large Structures: An Energy-to-Peak Approach

Abstract EN

We present a new design strategy that makes it possible to synthesize decentralized output-feedback controllers by solving two successive optimization problems with linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraints.

In the initial LMI optimization problem, two auxiliary elements are computed: a standard state-feedback controller, which can be taken as a reference in the performance assessment, and a matrix that facilitates a proper definition of the main LMI optimization problem.

Next, by solving the second optimization problem, the output-feedback controller is obtained.

The proposed strategy extends recent results in static output-feedback control and can be applied to design complex passive-damping systems for vibrational control of large structures.

More precisely, by taking advantages of the existing link between fully decentralized velocity-feedback controllers and passive linear dampers, advanced active feedback control strategies can be used to design complex passive-damping systems, which combine the simplicity and robustness of passive control systems with the efficiency of active feedback control.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a passive-damping system for the seismic protection of a five-story building is designed with excellent results.