Unsupervised fuzzy neural network structural active pulse controller

Abstract

Applying active control systems to civil engineering structures subjected to dynamic loading has received increasing interest. This study proposes an active pulse control model, termed unsupervised fuzzy neural network structural active pulse controller (UFN-SAP controller), for controlling civil engineering structures under dynamic loading. The proposed controller combines an unsupervised neural network classification (UNC) model, an unsupervised fuzzy neural network (UFN) reasoning model, and an active pulse control strategy. The UFN-SAP controller minimizes structural cumulative responses during earthquakes by applying active pulse control forces determined via the UFN model based on the clusters, classified through the UNC model, with their corresponding control forces. Herein, we assume that the effect of the pulses on structure is delayed until just before the next sampling time so that the control force can be calculated in time, and applied. The UFN-SAP controller also averts the difficulty of obtaining system parameters for a real structure for the algorithm to allow active structural control. Illustrative examples reveal significant reductions in cumulative structural responses, proving the feasibility of applying the adaptive unsupervised neural network with the fuzzy classification approach to control civil engineering structures under dynamic loading. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.