Sliding mode control of cable-stayed bridge subjected to seismic excitation

The working group on bridge control within the ASCE Committee on Structural Control recently initiated a first-generation benchmark problem addressing the control of a cable-stayed bridge subjected to seismic excitation. Previous research examined the applicability of a LQG-based semiactive control system using magnetorheological (MR) dampers to reduce the structural response of the benchmark bridge and confirmed the capability of the MR damper-based system for seismic response reduction. In this paper, sliding mode control (SMC) is applied in lieu of the LQG formulation to the benchmark bridge problem. The performance and robustness of the SMC-based semiactive control system using MR dampers (SMC/MR) is investigated through a series of numerical simulations, and it is confirmed that SMC/MR can be very effectively applied to the benchmark cable-stayed bridge, subjected to a wide range of seismic loading conditions.