Robust H-infinity static output feedback control with actuator saturation

There are several key issues to be considered in the design of active contr ol systems for civil structures, including robustness to pertubations of th e structural parameters stability in the presence of nonlinear actuator sat uration effects, and the use of output feedback methods when it is either i mpossible or impractical to obtain the full state of the system. This resea rch presents a design algorithm to create robust H-infinity static output f eedback controllers for seismically excited civil structures, which account for all these effects in a single design. Robust static acceleration feedb ack H-infinity controllers are created for a five-story structure with a bo unded, structural parameter uncertainty model. A nonconvex optimization pro blem is formulated and solved using an iterative solution method to obtain the desired control gains. A primary advantage of this method is that an in tuitive, feasible starting point is available using the open loop (uncontro lled) system and the worst case attenuation constant for the uncertain syst em. Simulation results using seismic excitations show controllers obtained using this design method to be effective with minimal control effort.