| Advisory Committee |
| Advisor Name |
Title |
| Murray, Thomas M. |
Committee Chair |
| Burdisso, Ricardo A. |
Committee Member |
| Easterling, William Samuel |
Committee Member |
| Heller, Robert A. |
Committee Member |
| Plaut, Raymond H. |
Committee Member |
| Robertshaw, Harry H. |
Committee Member |
|
Abstract
The active control of structures is a diverse field of study, with new applications
being developed continually. One structural system, which is often not considered a
dynamic system, is the floor of a building. In many cases the dynamics of a floor system
are neglected in the design phase of a building structure. Occasionally, this omission
results in a floor which has dynamic characteristics found to be unacceptable for the
intended use of the building. Floor motion of very small amplitudes, often caused by
pedestrian movement, is sometimes found objectionable by occupants of the building
space. Improving an unacceptable floor system's dynamic characteristics after
construction can be disruptive, difficult and costly.
In search of alternative repair measures, analytical and experimental research
implementing active control techniques was conducted to improve the vibration
characteristics of problem floors. Specifically, a control scheme was developed utilizing
the measured movement of the floor to compute the input signal to an electromagnetic
actuator which, by the movement of the actuator reaction mass, supplies a force that
reduces the transient and resonant vibration levels. Included in the analytical component
of this research is the development of a mathematical model for a full scale experimental
test floor. This model is studied, using a matrix computation software, to evaluate the
effectiveness of the control scheme. The experimental component of the research serves
two purposes. The first is the verification of the system behavior assumed in the
analytical component of the research. The second is the verification of control system
effectiveness for various excitations, control gains, and actuator locations on the
experimental test floor and six additional floors.
|