Potential benefits of incorporating active vibration control in floor structures

Abstract

Experts share their views about the Potential benefits of incorporating active vibration control (AVC) in floor structures. Active control comprises a sensor, controller, and an actuator in its simplest form. The sensor detects the resulting structural motion when the floor is excited by human walking, and the signal is passed on to the actuator following modification by a controller. A corrective force is applied to the structure in this manner, which reduces the level of response. This feedback approach has the very significant benefit of being effective over a broad frequency range in comparison with tuned mass dampers (TMD) which target only one mode of vibration and requires many devices to control a large number of modes. AVC controllers can be made adaptive in nature, such that they respond to changes in structural dynamic properties from rearrangement of furnishings or partition walls, while detuning remains a potential problem of TMD installations.