Structural control research issues arising out of the Northridge and Kobe earthqakes

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of some important research issues related to the general field of structural control which arose as a result of the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes. The broad field of structural control is a part of earthquake engineering and deals with a wide spectrum of topics including adaptive structures, intelligent/smart materials and systems, health monitoring and damage detection, actuators, sensors, and hybrid vibration control of civil infrastructure components under the action of earthquakes, wind and man-made loads. A subset of problems related to near-field ground motion, cracked steel joints, damage detection/condition assessment, base-isolation approaches, performance of critical lifeline systems (including bridges, power systems and hospitals), active control approaches, and strengthening and retrofit of vulnerable structures are considered. For each of these topics, the relevant research issues and technical challenges underscored by the recent earthquakes are discussed. Some promising approaches to alleviate these problems are presented in the context of the broad field of structural control of dispersed civil infrastructure systems. A brief resume of high-priority research topics is presented and is used to illustrate the need for and to motivate sustained international collaboration in the field of structural control research and applications.