Control methodologies for vibration control of smart civil and mechanical structures

Artificial intelligence and expert system remains a key technology in the 21st century. Using active controllers, a structure can adaptively adjust its behaviour during dynamic loads. Such structures with self-modifying capabilities are referred to as intelligent or smart structures. Smart structure technology has the potential to be a game changer in the structural engineering field. It promises to have enormous consequences in terms of preventing loss of life and damage to structure and their content especially for large structures with hundreds or thousands of components. A key element in successful implementation of smart active control technology is an effective control algorithm to compute the magnitudes of actual forces to be applied to the structure. In this paper, an overview of main active control methodologies for vibration control of smart civil and mechanical structures subjected to external dynamic loads is presented. The advantages and the disadvantages of different control algorithms are discussed. Finally, new trends in control algorithm research are pointed out including multiparadigm strategies, decentralized control, application of deep neural network machine learning techniques, control design for sustainability, and unification of the two fields of structural health monitoring and vibration control.