FIRST-PASSAGE STUDY AND STATIONARY RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF A BWB HYSTERESIS MODEL USING QUASI-CONSERVATIVE STOCHASTIC AVERAGING METHOD

The quasi-conservative stochastic averaging (QCSA) method is applied t o a Bouc-Wen-Baber hysteretic system (BWB) under Gaussian white noise excitations. The stationary probability density of the system's respon se amplitude and energy is obtained for different excitation levels an d different damping ratios. These results are compared with the studie s presented by Cai and Lin in A New Solution Technique for Randomly Ex cited Hysteretic Structures, Technical Report on Grant No. NCEER-88-00 12, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 1988. The first-passage time problem for the hysteretic system is also studied using the meth od of QCSA, The results for the expected time to failure as a function of the initial total energy are shown, for different excitation level s and for different threshold values of energy. The relationship betwe en the expected time to failure when initial total energy is zero and excitation level is shown for a wide range of hysteresis shape paramet ers.