Design of an optimal tuned mass damper for a system with parametric uncertainty

Structural control is becoming an attractive alternative for enhanced performance of civil engineering structures subject to seismic and wind loads. However, in order to guarantee stability and performance of structures when implemented with a passive or active control technique, there is a need to include information of uncertainty in the structural models due to the fact that civil engineering structures are time variant and nonlinear. These variations in the structure are often due to parameters such as variable live loads and inelastic behavior and, in cases, may be modeled as parametric uncertainty. The design of an optimal tuned mass damper (TMD) for a one degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system with parametric uncertainty is presented in this paper. The optimization of the connection between the absorber and the primary structure is cast as a constant feedback problem which is solved using structured singular value, mu, synthesis with D-K iteration and decentralized H (a) design. Results are presented of the TMD that minimize the harmonic response of the primary structure represented by a set of systems within an uncertainty set.