Online numerical simulation: A hybrid simulation method for incomplete boundary conditions

Abstract

Summary Hybrid simulation is a powerful and cost‐effective simulation technique to evaluate structural dynamic performance. However, it is sometimes rather difficult to guarantee all the boundaries on the physical substructures, especially when the boundary conditions are very complex, due to limited laboratory resources. Lacking of boundary conditions is bound to change the stress state of the structure and eventually result in an inaccurate evaluation of structural performance. A model updating‐based online numerical simulation method is proposed in this paper to tackle the problem of incomplete boundary conditions. In the proposed method, 2 sets of finite element models with the same constitutive model are set up for the overall analysis of the whole structure and the constitutive model parameter estimation of the physical substructure, respectively. The boundary conditions are naturally satisfied because the response is calculated from the overall structural model, and the accuracy is improved as the material constitutive parameters are updated. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated via numerical simulations and actual hybrid tests on a RC frame structure, and the results show that the negative effect of incomplete boundary conditions is almost eliminated and the accuracy of hybrid simulation is very much improved.

Experimental verification of a frequency domain evaluation index‐based compensation for real‐time hybrid simulation

“…Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) integrates numerical modeling of analytical substructures and physical testing of experimental substructures thus providing an effective and efficient technique to enable large-or full-scale tests in size limited structural laboratories in a real-time manner. [3][4][5][6][7] A numerical algorithm integrates the substructures to solve the dynamic equations of motion so that dynamic actuators apply the desired responses continuously to the physical substructures in a real-time manner. Some commonly used integration algorithms in quasi-static hybrid simulation cannot be directly applied in RTHS due to stability concern, that is, the maximum time step of integration algorithms is constrained by the highest natural frequency of the system.…”

Full‐scale hybrid test for realistic verification of a seismic upgrading technique of RC frames by BRBs

“…This technique was first proposed in the 1980s and has been greatly developed and widely used for large-scale structure tests during the past decades. [24][25][26][27][28][29] It involves the physical test of a critical part of the structure and the simultaneous numerical modelling of the remaining structure. The results provided by the physical test of the substructure (such as damping, displacements, and restoring forces) are used by the numerical model to predict accurately the seismic response of the overall structure.…”

“…The selected experimental testing technique is the substructure hybrid test. This technique was first proposed in the 1980s and has been greatly developed and widely used for large‐scale structure tests during the past decades 24–29 . It involves the physical test of a critical part of the structure and the simultaneous numerical modelling of the remaining structure.…”

Hybrid Simulation of Soil Station System Response to Two-Dimensional Earthquake Excitation

“…Hybrid simulation development trends are composed of two aspects. One aspect involves developing next-generation hybrid simulation methods that will provide more realistic structural responses, including robust numerical integration techniques [12][13][14][15] and the loading control method [16][17][18][19]. The other aspect involves providing validated general hybrid simulation procedure suitable to various projects and testing facilities to promote its awareness and broader applications, including the geographically distributed hybrid simulation, and developing a benchmark hybrid simulation [20][21][22].…”