A new integration scheme for application to seismic hybrid simulation

摘要

Hybrid simulation is a powerful test method for evaluating the seismic performance of structural systems.This method makes it feasible that only critical components of a structure be experimentally tested.This paper presents a newly proposed integration algorithm for seismic hybrid simulation which is aimed to extend its capabilities to a wide range of systems where existing methods encounter some limitations.In the proposed method, which is termed the variable time step(VTS) integration method, an implicit scheme is employed for hybrid simulation by eliminating the iterative phase on experimental element, the phase which is necessary in regular implicit applications.In order to study the effectiveness of the VTS method, a series of numerical investigations are conducted which show the successfulness of the VTS method in obtaining accurate, stable and converged responses.Then, in a comparative approach, the improved accuracy of the VTS method over commonly used integration methods is demonstrated.The stability of the VTS method is also studied and the results show that it provides conditional stability; however, its stability limit is well beyond the accuracy limit.The effect of time delay on the VTS method results is also investigated and it is shown that the VTS method is quite successful in handling this experimental error.