Seismic testing of a building structure with a semi-active fluid damper control system

This paper describes shaking table tests of a multi-storey scale-model building structure subjected to seismic excitation and controlled by a semi-active fluid damper control system. The semi-active dampers were installed in the lateral bracing of the structure and the mechanical properties of the dampers were modified according to control algorithms which utilized the measured response of the structure. A simplified time-delay compensation method was developed to account for delays within the control system. The results of the shaking table tests are presented and interpreted and analytical predictions are shown to compare reasonably well with the experimental results.