Design of an actuator for simulating wind-induced response of a building structure

Abstract

In this paper, excitation systems using a linear mass shaker (LMS) and an active tuned mass damper (ATMD) are presented to simulate the wind induced responses of a building structure. The actuator force for the excitation systems is calculated by using the inverse transfer function of a target structural response to the actuator. Filter and envelop functions are used to prevent the actuator from exciting unexpected modal responses and an initial transient response and thus, to minimize the error between the wind and actuator induced responses. The analyses results from a 76-story benchmark building problem for which the wind load obtained by a wind tunnel test is given, indicate that the excitation system installed at a specific floor can approximately reproduce the structural responses induced by the wind load applied to each floor of the structure. The excitation system designed by the proposed method can be effectively used for evaluating the wind response characteristics of a practical building structure and for obtaining an accurate analytical model of the building under wind load.