Decentralized robust control of building structures based on sliding mode theory

In this paper, a decentralized control algorithm is proposed for actively controlling the response of the flexible tall building structures under earthquake excitations. In the proposed approach, tall building structure was divided into some substructures in the form of state equation. The interaction of the subsystems and external excitations is conducted as bounded generalized force acting on the subsystems. A decentralized control algorithm of tall building structures is established based on the sliding model control theory. The control structure is described based on unit vector control. The control law consists of two parts: a linear control law u(L) and a nonlinear law u(N). The linear control is merely a linear state feedback controller, whereas the nonlinear feedback controller incorporates the discontinuous or continuous nonlinear elements of the control law. Using the advantage of match conditions of sliding mode theory and the bounded feature of generalized force, the overall stability of decentralized control is also investigated. The actuator arrangement and matching conditions are discussed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the numerical simulation of the decentralized control of a 20-story benchmark structure under seismic excitations.