Building seismic behavior improvement using an optimal control algorithm

Designing civil engineering structures to meet the economic requirements implies that the structural engineer accounts from the early design stage for certain structural damage. The structural damages are thus managed to occur in specified locations and quantity, judging that after the seismic event takes place, the structural rehabilitation can be easily conducted. Recent New Zealand earthquakes events showed that this engineering philosophy can be obsolete: although the structures did not collapsed, the rehabilitation costs in time and money were almost the same as for a new building. This paper investigates the active control technology and their benefits in the case of seismic structural behavior. The optimal control theory together with Force Analogy Method is used and numerically applied for a 10 story RC frame structure. A comparison between the “controlled” and “no control” scenario is performed.