Optimal Design of MRTLCD for Semi-active Vibration Control of Building Structures Using Genetic Algorithm

Seismic response reduction has remained an active area of research in the last few decades. In this context, the magneto rheological tuned liquid column damper (MRTLCD) is one of the common semi-active/active devices. The semi-active damping devices require less power supply to change their damping characteristics than any other active damping devices, and can be able to reduce structural responses when subjected to uncertain forces. With this in view, the aim of this study is to address the optimal design of MRTLCD considering a shear building frame for more robust performance. Linear quadratic regulator (LQR) algorithm is used to calculate the control force. In general, the weighing matrices associated with LQR are decided by the trial and error method. For this purpose, the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to construct suitable weighing matrices. To achieve this goal, multi-objective design optimization is solved by using GA to find the optimal design parameter of MRTLCD and the optimum value of weighing matrices of LQR. The numerical analysis presented in this paper clearly establishes the benefits of the proposed GA-based optimization over the trial and error approach by considering five-story shear building frame.