Date of Award
6-2011
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering
Department
Civil and Construction Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Xiaoyun Shao
Second Advisor
Dr. Haluk Aktan
Third Advisor
Dr. Upul Aftanayake
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
A hybrid testing system was developed to evaluate the seismic performance of a structural system by physically testing part of the structure, called a physical substructure, while numerically simulating the rest of the structure using a computer model. Instead of building a full sized structural specimen, hybrid testing allows researchers to build a complex substructure to be tested experimentally while the relatively simple part of the structure is numerically simulated. A versatile hybrid testing system was developed at Western Michigan University which includes a seismic simulator (often called a shake table), a reaction/loading system and an advanced hybrid testing controller. Such testing system was used to simulate the seismic response of a three story structure whose top story was installed with motion mitigation devices (i.e. dampers). The physical substructure is the top story with damper, which was installed on the shake table, and the numerical substructure is the lower two stories simulated in the computer. The boundary motions between the physical and numerical substructure were numerically simulated and applied to the top story using the shake table. Test results as well as the development of the test system were presented and discussed in this thesis.
Recommended Citation
Enyart, Griffin, "Development of a Versatile Hybrid Testing System for Seismic Evaluation of Structural Systems" (2011). Masters Theses. 392.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/392