In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to research and development of structural control devices, with particular emphasis on alleviation of wind and seismic response of buildings and bridges. In both areas, serious efforts have been undertaken to develop the structural control concept into a workable technology, and today we have many such devices installed in a wide variety of structures.
The focus of this state-of-the-art paper is on active, semi-active and hybrid structural control developments in the USA. Control systems are force actuation devices integrated with sensors, controllers and real-time information processing. This paper includes a brief historical outline of their development and an assessment of the state-of-the-art and state-of-the- practice of this exciting, and still evolving, technology. Seismic and non-seismic applications will be presented. Also included in the discussion are their advantages and limitations in the context of seismic design and retrofit of civil engineering structures.
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