OPTIMAL-CONTROL OF ADAPTIVE SMART BRIDGE STRUCTURES/

Through the use of active controllers, a structure can modify its beha vior during dynamic loadings such as impact, wind, or earthquake loadi ngs. Such structures with self-modification capabilities are called sm art structures. The smart-structure technology will have enormous cons equences in terms of preventing loss of life and damage to structure a nd its content specially for large structures with hundreds of members . In this paper, a computational model is presented for active control of large adaptive structures subjected to dynamic loadings such as im pact, wind, and earthquake loadings. The governing differential equati ons of the open-loop and closed-loop systems are formulated, and a rec ursive approach is presented for computing the response of the structu re. A robust parallel-vector algorithm is developed for the recursive solution of the response of the open-loop and closed-loop systems. The computational model is applied to active control of large bridge stru ctures. Three different schemes are investigated for optimal placement of controllers in bridge structures. Results are presented for three types of bridge structures: single-span, multispan continuous, and cur ved steel-truss bridges.