On the assessment of passive devices for structural control via real-time dynamic substructuring

In this work, the applicability of a dynamic testing technique known as real-time dynamic substructuring (RTDS) for the assessment of passive vibration suppression systems in seismic protection of buildings is analysed. RTDS is an efficient method for the assessment of dynamic and rate-dependent behaviour of systems subjected to dynamic excitation at real scale and in real scenarios. The actuators used in RTDS test introduce additional undesirable dynamics into the system, which are often not fully compensated for in the actuator controller—these dynamics are commonly approximated as a feedback delay. To guarantee the validity and accuracy of an RTDS simulation, a stability analysis of the substructured system that includes the feedback delay should be carried out. In this paper, we present explicit analyses that provide a dynamic characterization of the delay-induced phenomena in RTDS simulations when considering passive vibration suppression systems with strong nonlinearities. We present a complete set of closed-form expressions to describe the main phenomena because of delay in terms of dynamic stability in an RTDS simulation. Through an experimental study, we confirm the existence of self-sustained oscillations caused by very small delay in the feedback loop. This lead the system to instability in the form of high-frequency oscillations.