Implementation of real-time hybrid simulation based on GPU computing

With combination of physical experiment and numerical simulation, real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) can enlarge the dimensions of testing specimens and improve the testing accuracy. However, due to the limitation of computing capacity, the maximum degrees of freedom for numerical substructure are less than 7000 from the reported RTHS testing. It cannot meet the testing requirements for evaluating the dynamic performance of large and complex engineering structures. Taking advantages of parallel computing toolbox (PCT) in Matlab and high-performance computing of graphics processing unit (GPU). A RTHS framework based on MATLAB and GPU was established in this work. Using this framework, a soil-structure interaction system (SSI) was tested by a shaking table based RTHS. Meanwhile, the dynamic response of this SSI system was simulated by finite element analysis. The comparison of simulation and testing results demonstrated that the proposed testing framework can implement RTHS testing successfully. Using this method, the maximum degrees of freedom for numerical substructure can reach to 27,000, which significantly enhance the testing capacity of RTHS testing for large and complex engineering structures.